Dwelling On The Past
by sailoranime
Summary: Finished. After OotP, Lupin lets Harry see his memories of the Marauders with the Pensieve. Hopefully not the average Marauder era story. Warning: There are a couple of angsty scenes in there. Update: Thanks and spinoff posted, along with a question.
1. Sirius' Letter

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter, along with everything that belongs in that universe, belongs to J.K. Rowling and a bunch of other companies that are now milking it for all it's worth. I, however, am getting nothing out of this other than the satisfaction of writing a good story that people like to review. hint hint

**Author's Notes:** Please keep in mind that this was written right after OotP, so I was unusually sensitive during that time. I'm editing all of the chapters, but I'm also trying to make it less corny than the original version. I'd like to thank my beta reader, Elanor Gamgee at the SugarQuill, who has probably taught me more about writing dialogue than all my other English teachers combined.

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**Quote Of The Chapter:**

_Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over besides the window jump._

**From:** The Order of the Phoenix, Page 458.

**Author's Note:** Tsk tsk, Ron, stop making the second years commit suicide.

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The 31st of July found Harry Potter lying down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. After a hideous three weeks with the Dursleys, Dumbledore had finally allowed him to go to Grimmauld Place, where the Weasleys had joined him less than a week later on the 29th. It was when he arrived at headquarters, escorted by no less than four members of the Order, that he was given a letter that Sirius had written a couple of months before his death. Five days passed before he mustered enough courage to open it. Now it lay by his side, bent and worn from the many times he had read it during the past two or three days. He practically knew it by heart already.

_"If you're reading this, Harry, it means I'm dead. If I'm not dead, then it means Moony is a lousy git for giving it to you... and we're going to have a couple of very awkward days..."_

' I must have been a lousy godson to have made him think he couldn't tell me he cared about me without embarrassment...'

_Well, here it goes. Harry, I'm leaving you my... vast amount of... er.... well, 'wealth'. I'm leaving you all the money in the Gringotts family vault, and the... what is it, again? Ah, yes, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Though lucky for you, I managed to get the tapestry and my mother's portrait down now. Both are in the attic now. Just know, Harry, that if anything should happen to them, I won't hold you responsible. Even if the damage happens to be... irreparable._

Harry had gone to the attic in search of peace and quiet on his first day in Grimmauld place, only to discover the portrait of Mrs. Black, who began screaming at him and insulting Sirius at the sight of Harry. Harry had furiously destroyed the portrait after a rather loud and furious argument, causing Lupin to run to the attic at hearing all the noise. Mrs. Black had fled and now resided in the portrait of her father. Now she just glared at Harry reproachfully on the rare occasions he went by that particular bedroom.

_Well, back to the subject at hand, I can't watch over you anymore, but at least I'm happy that I've provided for you. Make sure not to spend all of it on booze and strippers... notice I only said not to spend _**all of it**_ on booze and strippers._

_Obviously, with me not being here, someone else is going to have to take care of you. I don't know how long from now you will read this letter, but unless lots of things have changed, we still won't be as close as I wished we could be. And since part of me feels like I'm not fulfilling my duties as your godfather, I realize I can't mess up on this particular matter. I thought about whom I should name as your guardian. I considered who you'd want to be in charge of you... but realized I had no idea. I mean, the Weasleys have always cared for you, and always will. And Molly loves you like a son, but as you know, she's not very understanding when it comes to her kids getting in trouble. I needed to find someone that I could trust. Someone who would understand you, someone that cared about you and you cared about too. _

_How about Snape? _

_No? Okay... Well, then, I choose Remus. I know it was an obvious choice, but let me explain. Remus has been one of my best friends since I was eleven. I can trust him with my life... And you are my life, Harry. I love you like a son._

Though Harry could now make it through most of the letter without crying, he could never stop a few silent tears when it came to that part.

_I don't know if you'll miss me, I can only hope you will, but I have to explain to you **why** I won't come back as a ghost. When Voldemort came back, I knew that there was a possibility that something might happen, specifically to me. It's not because I had a death wish or anything of the sort, mind you, but when Voldemort wants someone dead.... You understand, right? Well, you might not, actually. After all, how many times have you gone up against him and survived? _

_Anyway, when Voldemort wants one of us lesser mortals dead, it tends to happen. I won't go down without a fight, mind you, though I am hoping to leave behind a good-looking corpse. _

_Well, Dumbledore's paranoid, you know? He made us write out our wills (Yeah, like _that's_ going to inspire a lot of confidence), and insisted that we write letters to our loved ones and not-so-loved ones. (Believe me when I say Snape will be getting one!) He also made me write out a character study of myself. Can you believe that? As if I don't know who I am (Though I must admit it was rather interesting. I never knew I was a masochist)! He also made me write out my priorities, so that I wouldn't get confused in the future. He made me ask myself if I would be coming back as a ghost. I normally would have brushed it off, but I couldn't do it, for some strange reason. I would have to answer the question. _

_It didn't take me long to answer that. I knew right away that I wouldn't come back. Not because I would rather see your parents than be with all of you, but because if I came back it would only be a matter of time until you all passed away too. And I would rather wait, and I better wait for a long time, than be with you for a while and then have to watch as you and everyone else I care about dies. Do you see my point? _

_God, I better be dead when you read this... Otherwise I'm making an ass of myself. _

_I can't think of any way to comfort you, mostly because I don't _know_ how this is going to happen. I'm not going to waste your time with an exciting scenario of my heroic and untimely death while in battle with Voldemort himself, because with my luck, I'll end up going by choking on a peanut. And unless it was the confirmed Peanut of Death, and I swallowed it in your place, there'd be nothing heroic about that. _

_I know it may seem a little inappropriate for me to make jokes when this is supposed to be my last letter to you, Harry. But please understand that this is hard for me. I'm barely ever serious... and it's not every day that I write a goodbye letter to my godson. Well, Harry, you'll probably notice my writing's getting very cramped. So it's about time I end this. I think I've said everything there is to say, and probably some things that shouldn't have been said at all. So here it is. Goodbye, Harry. We'll see each other again some day. And I want you to know that I don't regret never having a son, because I have you. _

_Love, _

_Sirius_

_PS. Remus likes dogs, being with friends, walks by the beach, and cartoon episodes where someone destroys the moon. He keeps his firewhiskey under the sink where all the cleaning supplies are, but be sure not to take it for at least a week after the full moon. And make sure you replace it at least a week before it. And he will give in quickly when you're asking for something if you give him the puppy dog eyes and call him 'Uncle Moony'._

Harry smiled sadly at the last part of Sirius's letter. He should stop playing with it, or soon it would be so worn that he'd have to throw it away, something he knew he would never be able to do. He wiped away what was left of his tears and propped himself up against the pillows on the bed, looking at the letter in his hand as if expecting more writing to appear. When it didn't, he folded it up and put it inside his book. He heard someone knock softly at the door.

Knowing it was probably Mrs. Weasley coming to coax him into going down to lunch, he quickly opened a book that was sitting conveniently close and pretended to read. The door opened to reveal not Mrs. Weasley, but Lupin, who gave him a small smile.

"Can I come in, Harry?" Harry nodded. Lupin came in and sat on the foot of the bed, looking steadily at Harry.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." Harry looked up, surprised. He hadn't really expected anyone to remember, perhaps because no one at Number 4 ever did.

"Umm... thanks," was the only reply he could think of.

"Look, Harry, before... Well, before Sirius died, he had an idea. We planned to go through with it on your birthday... but... well, I talked to Dumbledore, and he's okay with it."

"Okay with what?"

"When you contacted us after what you saw in the Pensieve... Sirius and I were both worried about what you would think of your father. Even though we explained the situation to you. We wanted you to have a better, more accurate image of your father. I'm sure your father would not be pleased to know that the only time you saw him was when he was being an idiot and tormenting Snape..."

Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression still on his face. Did he mean...?

"At any rate, Dumbledore came by last night, and left this." He took out the Pensieve and placed it on the nightstand. Harry looked from Lupin, to the Pensieve, and then to Lupin again.

"I've chosen a few memories that I thought would show you what your father was really like, despite his mischievous nature... I'll be really surprised if you don't want to do it, but I will understand-"

"I want to do it." Harry answered quickly. Lupin smiled and took his wand and put it, just as Dumbledore had done, where his hair and forehead met. When he pulled it away, a strand of silvery white stuff followed it. Lupin put it in the Pensieve and repeated the process four more times. Then he put his wand down and looked at Harry.

"Is there anything in particular you want to see?"

"Well, maybe my parent's wedding... when I was born, or the first time my parents met... if you were there..."

"I was. I anticipated the first 2... They're in there already. I suppose you'll want to see some of our adventures..." Lupin smiled as Harry nodded. Lupin removed 5 more memories and put them in the Pensieve.

"Dumbledore told me to remind you of what he told you in your first year... 'It does not do...'"

"'...To dwell on dreams'. I know. I suppose that goes for the past, too?"

Lupin nodded. "Stand up Harry. Am I right in assuming that you'll want to go in completely?"

Harry nodded. "If it's not too much to ask..."

Lupin shook his head. "Of course not..."

Lupin took a deep breath and prodded the stuff in the Pensieve. It swirled and the revealed an image. Harry kneeled down in front of the nightstand. All of a sudden, he felt himself being pulled into the Pensieve. He found himself sitting in the Gryffindor house table next to a very young and timid-looking Lupin. The real, full-grown Lupin appeared right next to him. Harry looked from one to the other. Oddly enough, little Lupin also had a tiny bit of gray in his hair. He was snapped out of his train of thought as a sharp voice called out for Pettigrew, Peter. He looked towards the front of the Great Hall. This was the Sorting, his father's first year. He turned to Lupin, who was watching as Pettigrew, having been sorted into Gryffindor, made his way towards them. He sat down next to little Lupin, who was looking around nervously and occasionally glanced at Dumbledore, who gave him reassuring looks. Harry looked back towards the front and saw his father was sitting on the stool with the sorting hat over his head.

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted, and James took it off and ran towards the Gryffindor table, sitting down next to a very young looking Sirius. Sirius's hair was still short, only reaching to his eyes. It fell over his eye, obscuring them a little, and giving him something of a mysterious air. James looked like Harry had done in his first year, except a little less skinny. The only differences at that point were his eyes and height. James, obviously having been fed better than Harry had at the Dursleys', was about 3 inches taller than Harry had been.

"Sirius! You made it into Gryffindor!" James grinned at Sirius.

Sirius grinned back. "Just barely, really. Don't see my parents being too happy with that, though. Guess what I brought!"

"I don't know... dungbombs?"

"Well, yeah. But Hagrid confiscated them... I brought something else though."

"What?" James asked, a devilish smile forming on his face. Harry looked at Lupin, whose smile was replaced by a grin when he saw Harry watching him. Harry couldn't remember ever seeing him grin like that before. Harry turned back to Sirius and James, who were now eating and discussing where they were going to let out whatever it was Sirius had brought. Suddenly Sirius turned to him.

"Can you please pass the bread rolls?" he asked politely. It took Harry a second to realize he was sitting next to little Lupin, and Sirius had not been talking to him. Lupin passed Sirius the basket, and was rewarded when Sirius grinned at him and swallowed the food in his mouth.

"I love bread rolls... I'm Sirius."

The little blond kid, whom Harry had recognized as Pettigrew, looked at Sirius strangely. "But he wasn't arguing... why would you tell him you were serious?"

James and Sirius exchanged a look.

"No, my name is Sirius. So what's you name?" he asked, turning towards Lupin. Lupin looked a little shy, but answered nonetheless.

"I'm Remus Lupin."

"I'm Peter," Pettigrew added. Harry could tell that just telling them his name had taken some courage on Peter's part.

"Well, hello. I'm James. James Potter. Sirius, here, is a little nuts. Best way to see if he's lying is to check for that little malicious glint in his eye. See? Like the one he has now. He's just not right."

"I resent that!"

"Well, it's true. Anyway, we're thinking about giving the prefects the slip and going off on our own. We're going to let these things free. Would you two like to come?" James took a small jar of red ants from Sirius, who was grinning devilishly. Harry looked at Lupin, who was still smiling.

"I don't think we can... The prefects would be sure to miss 4 of us. Even 2 would be taking a huge risk," little Lupin said reasonably. James and Sirius exchanged a look.

"Well, I guess he's right, mate. We'll have to do it another time." With that, James put the jar away again. The feast was over and the prefects started calling for the first years to follow them. Harry looked at Lupin questioningly.

"Do we follow?" Lupin nodded and began to speak as they followed the suspiciously quiet group.

"Just because we couldn't sneak away from the prefects didn't mean our night was over."


	2. Adventures on the First Day

Dwelling On The Past

By: Sailoranime

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**Disclimer:** Harry Potter, along with everything that belongs in that universe, belongs to J.K. Rowling and a bunch of other companies that are now milking it for all its worth. I, however, am getting nothing out of this other than the satisfaction of writing a good story that people like to review. *hint hint*

**Author's Notes:** Wow... 51 reviews... I'd thank everyone by name if I had time... 51 is way too many... Um... well, here's the next chapter. I was so surprised that everyone liked the first part! My inbox full of review alerts! ^_^ Anyway, I expected 10 at most... I started writing this chapter the night I posted the first part, but I started working on it harder when I saw the reviews... I hope this is as good as the first part... Anyway, here it is!

**Other Info on Story:** This is set after the fifth book, and will probably be about 11 chapters long. It was inspired by the chapter in the fifth book entittled ' Snape's Worst Memory'. BTW, if that WAS Snape's worst memory, I'm guessing James DID take off his pants. ^_^ lol...

**Full Summary: **Lupin decides to let Harry see some of his memories of James and Lily... a couple of memories from the Marauder's time with no real plot... Harry gets to see when his parents met, when they married, and when he was born along with some of the marauder's adventures, and realizes why Sirius moved on instead of coming back as a ghost. Spoilers from OotP. Obviously.

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**Quote Of The Chapter:** " Are you that bad at kissing?" - Ron

" Dunno, maybe I am." - Harry

" Of course you're not." Hermione said absently.

" _How would** you **know**?**_" asked Ron in a sharp voice.

**From: **The Order of the Phoenix, Page 458.

**Author's Note:** Harry's been unconscious so many times, Hermione could have stolen a kiss or two, don't you think? Sorry, but I'm an H/H shipper not a H/R person. ^_^

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The trip up to the common room was strangely quiet. James and Sirius kept exchanging meaningful looks. Little Lupin walked quietly, almost as if expecting an attack. Pettigrew was hanging back a couple of feet, walking uncertainly as if he wasn't sure if he was a part of the group or not.

Harry was surprised at the change in his old professor. Lupin, who had always been very solemn and serious, especially after Sirius's death, was smiling almost eagerly. The only other time he could remember seeing him like that was when he had talked to him and Sirius about his father using the fire in Umbridge's office. It didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady in her frilly pink dress.

" Password?" she asked, eyeing all the first years a bit suspiciously.

" Sneakoscope." the prefect answered, and the portrait flung open, letting the first years in.

" First years, your dormitories will be on the right hand side. Just go up those stairs and to the door clearly marked ' First Years'. Girls, same thing, but your dormitories will be on the left hand side." Harry looked at the prefect and was oddly reminded of Percy.

As the prefect had been talking, Sirius had been mouthing the words with a comically stern expression on his face while James grinned at him and Peter gave a small clap. Little Lupin looked like he had half a mind to say something to put them in his place, but he was obviously amused.

" Shall we go up to our dormitories?" Sirius asked in a very exaggerated haughty voice. James looked at him gravely and answered in the same tone of voice.

" I suppose that is in order." They grinned at each other and began marching up the stairs. James stopped almost half way up and turned around.

" Aren't you coming?" he asked, looking at Lupin and Peter. Lupin nodded and Peter stood there for a second, almost as if surprised that he had been addressed directly by James. The four boys walked upstairs with Harry and big Lupin following. Once inside the dormitories, Harry remembered what Lupin had said.

" What did you mean, 'their night wasn't over'?" Harry asked as he saw the four boys quietly get ready for bed " They're going to sleep already." Harry watched as another boy walk in and began taking off his robes. He almost burst out laughing as he saw the boy was wearing his pj's under his robe. James was staring at him too, almost as if amazed. 

" Wow, you must have been comfy... wish I had though of that... I'm wearing muggle clothes under my robes, these pants are getting very uncomfortable after all that food."

" We ate like pigs." Sirius began, grinning, " So what's your name?"

" Davey Gudgeon," the boy answered. " I overslept this morning... had to put my robes on and leave the house five minutes after I woke up. I never got a change to change..." he sighed heavily. " I couldn't sleep last night, so I'm going to settle down now, hope you don't mind."

Harry could tell he really didn't care if they had minded, and apparently so did James and Sirius because they exchanged a look once again.

" We won't bother you," Little Lupin began, but James cut him off.

" Won't make a sound..."

"... Almost as if we weren't here!" Sirius added.

" Right, then, Good night." Davey answered, looking at them warily.

" That's the boy who nearly lost an eye because of the Whomping Willow... Not very friendly, but always up for a dare." Lupin told Harry quietly. Harry nodded, remembering his conversation with Lupin in his third year.

" Well, g'night, James." Sirius said as a yawn escaped him.

" Good night, Sirius. Good night everyone." James answered, getting into his bed. Once everybody was in bed, the lights went off. Harry stood in the darkness until Peter's snores broke the silence. Harry could feel Lupin moving somewhere near him.

" Professor Lupin?"

" Yeah, Harry?"

" What are we waiting for?"

" Just wait. You'll see. By the way, I don't snore. That's Peter. Davey will start pretty soon." Harry waited for a couple of minutes more. The quiet was suddenly broken by a very loud snore from Davey Gudgeon that had almost given Harry a heart attack.

"Sirius?" Harry found it hard not to squirm every time he heard his father's young voice.

" James? You ready?"

" Yeah. Let's go. Lumos." his father whispered and Harry could see the 2 boys getting up in the dim light. Sirius walked over to the other 3 boys, checking to make sure they were asleep.

" Remus and Peter are asleep already."

" Too bad. They probably would have wanted to come along. come one, quickly, get under the cloak." James whispered, and a few seconds later Harry couldn't see the two boys any more. He could, however, hear soft footsteps heading towards the door.

"The teachers patrol the corridors until 9:00," Little Lupin said from his bed. " I overheard some of the older kids... you better be careful, It's only 8:45." The footsteps stopped.

" Remus! You're awake! You want to come with us?" Harry could tell from the way James spoke that he truly was glad Lupin was awake, and not just inviting him out of politeness. Lupin's answer was hesitant, though.

" I don't know, I wouldn't want to get caught. We won't all fit under that cloak, and I wouldn't want to get expelled on my first day."

" This cloak's big enough to fit at least 4 of us," Sirius answered, obviously eager to get Remus to join them." and we'll be back in an hour, tops."

" And you wouldn't get expelled for being out after curfew... We'd get a couple of points off, maybe a detention, but not expelled." James added. Lupin still looked doubtful.

" I suppose it wouldn't be that bad."

" Of course it wouldn't. Come on, or we might wake these guys up." Lupin still looked nervous, but joined the other 2 under the cloak. Harry and Lupin both got up and followed, it didn't occur to Harry until after they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that it would be difficult to follow his father and the others if they were invisible. Harry had been about to express his concerns to Lupin, but he realized Lupin had put his hand of his shoulder and was steering him in the right direction.

_' Of course he knows the way,'_ Harry thought, _' It's his memory.'_

It wasn't until a few minutes later that the boys spoke again.

" Sorry, Lupin," his father began, " we would have invited you guys earlier, but we could tell that Davey fellow isn't very much up to doing stuff like this... and we wouldn't put it past him to tell on us."

" And Peter fell asleep before Davey, we thought you had too. Anyway, it's 9:05. Teachers are probably gone now... We can take this off." Sirius added as he appeared under the cloak.

" Is that really a good idea?" Little Lupin asked.

" I don't suppose it is," James began as he appeared under the cloak himself, " Sirius never has 'good' ideas, but what's the fun in causing mischief if no one suspects it's you? Feel free to stay under the cloak if you want."

" No, that's okay." Lupin said as he took off the cloak hesitantly and handed it to James. James folded it and put it over his arm since he wasn't wearing his robes.

" Hey, James, did you ever finish learning that tripping hex from Kingsley?"

" Somewhat. I couldn't actually practice it, but I learned the theory. You were there, remember?"

" Yes, I remember, I thought he might have given you more instructions later or something. I was thinking we could cast the spell, and then tomorrow when everyone goes by here, they'll trip. Well just have to make sure not to go by here."

" I suppose we could try." James answered and motioned for the 2 other boys to step back a little. He took his wand and walked the 5 feet from one wall to the other. He did a swishing motion with his wand and whispered something Harry couldn't hear. A thin, glowing line showed where he had run his wand through. The glowing stopped after a few seconds and James looked at Sirius a bit nervously.

" Think that worked?" Sirius asked with an eager expression on his face.

" I don't know..." James answered uncertainly.

" Well, then test it." Sirius answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

" Why me?" James hissed back.

" Because you cast it."

"Oh, all right." James finally muttered, seeing no other choice. He took a deep breath and walked towards the line with his hands in front of him, ready to break his fall if the spell worked. He took a step over the line, and it was almost like there was a short invisible wall in front of him, because his foot seemed to hit something and he fell. 

" Bloody-"

" James!" Sirius shrieked in a mock horrified voice." Language, young man!"

" We'll see how you like testing yours..."

" I'll go to that end of the hall, James, you go to that end, and Remus, you do one on the middle. The spell is 'Caeto'. Just do what James did." Sirius said, rushing off towards the end of the hall.

Harry followed after him, getting only as close as he dared. He didn't want to stray too far and walk right out of the memory. Sirius had cast the spell and was trying to figure out a way to test it. His face suddenly lit up and he walked over to where he had cast the spell and he kicked the air a few inches off the ground. His foot met no resistance and he frowned. He walked over the area, and did not trip. 

Harry left Sirius and walked back to his father who was unsuccessfully trying to cast the spell again. He had not picked up Sirius's technique yet, and he just kept walking over the area where he had set the spell, always with a pained expression, and when he didn't trip, an odd expression came over his face. It was a mixture of relief and frustration.

Harry was taken out of his train of thought by a triumphant sound from Sirius. He kept kicking the air in front of him, and Harry could see his foot hit something invisible. Sirius winced, but the triumphant expression remained on his face. James glared at him, finally realizing how Sirius was testing the hex. James finally managed to cast the spell correctly_. _He kicked the wall hard a couple of times to make sure it worked and then went off to join Sirius, who was waiting for Remus to finish.

Little Lupin had already cast the spell, but he seemed to be having trouble testing it. Apparently he wasn't very fond of hurting himself, so walking over the line or kicking the area above it was out. Instead, he did something neither Sirius not James had thought of doing. He leaned down and put his hand right above the line. He moved his hands a bit feeling as if for some sort of trace of magical energy, and then stood up, a satisfied smile on his face.

" Done." he said, grinning at the other two.

" Good work. We should get back. We've been out a while." James said as a huge yawn escaped him.

" Right," Sirius began. Let's go." They put the invisibility cloak over themselves again and walked without making a sound. Harry and Lupin followed them, and were about to turn the corner when Harry heard his father's voice.

" Sirius! How are we going to get through without tripping? What are we going to do, genius?"

" Well, just try to take really high steps or something. As if you were climbing the stairs... that thing can't be more than a foot high." Harry heard the footsteps start, and he and Lupin began walking again too. Harry heard the relieved sighs from the 3 marauders as none of them tripped. He grinned at Lupin who grinned back.

He was about to start walking again, when he saw someone walking their way. His breath caught in his throat for a second as he though he recognized the person. Snape. His hair wasn't really greasy yet, he had probably just taken a shower or something because his normally pale face was somewhat flushed and his hair looked a bit wet. He was really quite unrecognizable. He wasn't sneering, he was just walking like a normal person. In fact, he seemed somewhat happy. He walked right through the spot where his father had cast the spell without tripping. He could hear Sirius whispering to James.

" James, yours wore off... That's why we didn't trip. We have to practice more..." Suddenly Snape fell and cursed loudly. "Look! Remus! Yours hasn't! I hope yours will last until tomorrow." Sirius said happily.

Suddenly Harry saw Ms. Norris walk right by the 3 now silent marauders. Snape, not aware of what the cat meant, scowled at it and resumed walking. Ms. Norris hissed and Filch came running towards them, going right through Harry.

" What is it, my sweet? Ah, yes, a student out of bed!" he said gleefully as he spotted Snape.

" You, there!" he barked." You're out of bed after curfew. Come on, follow me to my office!"

" But-"

" I don't care. Come with me." Snape looked like he was going to protest, but he followed Filch anyway, glaring evilly at the cat.

" Stop that." Filch barked without turning around. Snape looked shock but kept his eyes on the floor from then on. After Snape and Filch were gone, the 3 boys began speaking again.

" Poor guy." James began, " he got caught because of us."

" He was probably Slytherin..." Sirius said somewhere under the cloak." come one, let's go."

They made it back into the common room without incident. They were about to go up the stairs when Peter came running down. The 3 boys took off the cloak and looked at him oddly. He seemed relieved to see them.

" What's wrong, Peter?" Remus asked him quickly. It took Peter a minute to answer because he was out of breath.

" Davey... Gudgeon... you... gone... tell McGonagall... get upstairs... into beds.... pretend you're asleep..." he managed to choke out. The 3 boys exchanged a look and the 4 dashed upstairs to the dormitories. They all got into their beds quickly and Peter managed to regain his composture as they all pretended to be asleep. Two minutes later McGonagall burst into the bedroom with Davey behind her.

" Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin. I just caught Mr. Gudgeon outside of bed after curfew. He said you gentlemen were out of your beds. Is this true?" She gave them one of her signature looks and her lips were very thin. He had to admit, the marauders were all very good actors. Even Peter was looking appropriately puzzled. Big Lupin was grinning, Harry was pretty sure he didn't even remember Harry was in there with him.

" No, professor. We've been in here. We saw Davey leave at least half an hour ago. We figured he was going to the restroom." James answered. McGonagall looked at Peter, who managed to keep his composture even under her gaze.

" Is that true, Mr. Pettigrew? I'm trusting you because you were the only one who hasn't been accused of anything."

" I've been asleep, Professor. I heard Davey go out, but I don't know what time it was." he answered in a slightly trembling voice, and faked a small yawn. McGonagall turned on Davey Gudgeon.

" Mr. Gudgeon! I caught you out in the corridors and you feed me some story about these young men to save yourself. HOW DID YOU EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH IT? You have 2 detentions. Come see me tomorrow at 7:00. Now go to sleep, all of you."

" But... 3? Why..." Davey was stuttering

" For being out of bed and lying about it and trying to get others in trouble. It's lucky Mr. Pettigrew testified for you three, otherwise you'd all have detentions. Good night." Mcgonagall walked out of the dormitories, closing the door behind her. Davey glared at the 4 boys and gathered his blankets. He took his pillow and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

" Wow... thanks, Peter." James said, looking very grateful.

" Yeah, The Davey boy should have been in Slytherin... the rat. I can't believe a fellow Gryffindor TOLD on us. I thought Gryffindors are supposed to be brave." Sirius muttered.

" He is brave," James answered, " he told on us even though he knew we'd get revenge. We have to punish him somehow... we have to think something up."

" You don't think he's been punished enough?" Peter asked.

" No." this time it was little Lupin who spoke, " I don't like people who squeal on others. He's already in trouble, so it shouldn't be something too big either." James nodded.

" You're right. We can plan that later though. We should go to sleep now." They all agreed and climbed into bed.

" Thanks, Peter." Sirius muttered before going to sleep.

" Yeah, we owe you one." Little Lupin added.

" Yeah, what they said." James muttered, half asleep already.

Harry suddenly found the scene changing. Suddenly he and Lupin found themselves right in front of the 4 marauders. They walked right through them and into the class right behind them. Harry and Lupin followed them in, and watched them all take out parchment to 'take notes'. He couldn't help but notice that James and Sirius looked particularly pleased with themselves.

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AN: Okay, that was the first memory. Next one should be out soon. Anyway, please R&R. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry to stop here, but this took 4 hours, so I'm going to bed, finally. ^_^ BTW, I had Peter warn the tohers because I thought it would be easier to get him inot the group that way. I knew Remus would have very little problem fitting in with them, but since Peter is very shy, it was a little harder to do. They don't hate Snape yet, I'm not planning on having them meet him until next year when they actually know some magic to use against him. Other than me mistyping Peter's name and calling him 'Petter', this story had very little typos. If you see one, though, let me know. And if anyone wants to be a beta for this story, let me know by e-mailing me at sakura_super_kawaii@yahoo.com 


	3. Snape's Nose

Dwelling On The Past

By: Sailoranime

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**Disclimer:** Harry Potter, along with everything that belongs in that universe, belongs to J.K. Rowling and a bunch of other companies that are now milking it for all its worth. I, however, am getting nothing out of this other than the satisfaction of writing a good story that people like to review. *hint hint*

**Author's Notes:** Well, here's chapter 3! I'm trying to get this done fast so I can finish before school starts again, because otherwise I might leave you guys waiting for months before I write again. I was so surprised that everyone liked the story! *grins* Anyway, please R&R because I need all the inspiration I can get. BTW, does anybody know of another story called 'Dwelling On The Past?' One of you guys mentioned it, and I was wondering where that story was because I'm curious, and I might like to read it. And I don't really think the Pensieve idea was original, but I don't think I've ever really seen it used.

**Full Summary: **Lupin decides to let Harry see some of his memories of James and Lily... a couple of memories from the Marauder's time with no real plot... Harry gets to see when his parents met, when they married, and when he was born along with some of the marauder's adventures, and realizes why Sirius moved on instead of coming back as a ghost. Spoilers from OotP. Obviously.

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**Quote of the Chapter:**

_" His eye are as green as a fresh pickled toad, His hair as dark as a blackboard._

_I wish he was mine, he's really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."_

Ginny's valentine to Harry- HP and The Chamber of Secrets, Page 238

**Authors Opinion:** I seriously hope Ginny was under Tom Riddle's influence when she wrote that.

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The 4 marauders walked right through Harry and Lupin and into the class behind them. Harry and Lupin almost had to run to make sure they didn't lose sight of them and come out of the memory. James, Sirius, Little Lupin, and Peter all took a seat in the second row, Harry found this rather surprising because it was a potions class. He had always hated potions, so he figured the marauders had too. It took a second for Harry to remember that potions wouldn't be such a bad class if it were not taught by Snape.

" Do you know your father is the reason the miniature models of broomsticks were outlawed by Filch?" Lupin asked Harry with a grin. Harry was pretty sure they were responsible for more than one item on that list. He glanced at Sirius and James who were now glaring at someone. Snape was sitting in front of James, ocassionally turning around and giving them all nasty looks. This Snape, as Harry noticed immediatly, was not the Snape he had seen in the last memory. Snape's hair was already greasy and his hooked nose was more noticeable. It wasn't these qualities, however, that caused Harry's hatred rise to the surface. It was the way Snape was looking at his father and Sirius with such hatred. He frowned and turned to Lupin.

" Did my dad do something to him?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

" No... not yet. They don't even know each other. It's just like we told you last time. They hated each other when they first set eyes on each other." Lupin answered. Harry could tell that Lupin thought James hated Snape with good reason, and Harry had to agree.

While Harry had been talking to Lupin, the marauders had started passing notes as the teacher reviewed what they had learned the day before. He looked down at the parchment, they had filled at least half the parchment already.

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AN: The key to who's writing the notes. The actions in the notes are written by them too. So if it says * A glares at B*, character A, who is doing the glaring, actually writes that.

**James**

_Sirius_

Lupin

Peter

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**What do you think is wrong with that kid in front of me?**

He's Slytherin, James.

_Yeah. He acts like something crawled up his robes and died. But all Slytherins act like that._

**I don't like the way he's looking at me. Stupid prat.**

_Well, we could always DO something about it._

Like what, Sirius?

Can't be anything too big... We're in class.

_When has that ever stopped us before? *grin*_

**I just had an idea... Sirius, did you bring your miniature model of the new cleansweep?**

_Yeah... what do you want it for, James? * suspicious look*_

*** blinks innocently* Well, just for a little revenge.**

_* beaming with pride* I'm so proud of you! *grin*_

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Sirius looked through his pockets for a second before he took out a 3 inch model of a broomstick. He grinned and handed it to James, who had his wand out. James put the model on his deask and whispered 'Wingardium Leviosa'. The broom went up and James steered it with his wand right into the back of Snape's head. The broom fell silently to the floor and Snape whipped around and glared at James who was looking at the teacher very attentively. Snape gave a small growl and turned back around. All 4 marauders were snickering, and Sirius summoned his model back and made to put it away, but James shook his head. He took it again and, once again, managed to hit Snape in the back of the head.

Snape didn't turn around, but Harry heard a growl coming from him. Now that he knew Snape had started the whole thing, he felt much better about his father torturing Snape. The four boys looked as if they were about to burst out laughing, but they managed to calm down. Even Big Lupn was enjoying the show while leaning agains the wall. James summoned the Cleansweep and again and set it on the desk, ready to repeat the process. This time, however, Snape heard his father mutter the spell and turned around just as the broom flew towards the back of his head. The result was quite hilarious.

In a few moments of chaos all Harry saw was the marauders bursting out laughing as Snape fell out of his chair with 1/4th of the mini broom sticking out of his noce. Then Snape let out a violent scream that caught everyone else's attention. The class all stood up to get a good look at him, and burst out laughing when they saw the broom in his nose. He took what he could get of the handle and tried to pull it out, letting another loud yell, this time followed by a swear word. Snape got up slowly and glared at the professor who was just standing there, still in shock.

" Permission to go to the infirmary, sir?" he growled, rage dripping from his every syllable.

" What for...? Oh! Of course... of course... you may go, Snape." the teacher answered, finally recovering. Snape didn't even pack his things up, he just stalked out of the room. The teacher then turned to James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter who were almost on the floor laughing.

" I suppose it's safe to assume you 4 had something to do with it?" he asked sternly. Sirius was the first one to stop laughing, so he answered the question himself.

" No... Professor... not really... you see, everyone gets what they deserve, usually. That boy... Snape? Isn't that what you called him... he deserved it... everything you do comes back to you... so it's not really our fault... karma was just using us as a way to punish him. Therefore, we are not reponsible for our actions. Karma is."

The teacher raised an eyebrow.

" If you were just the medium karma used to get even with Snape, and you got caught, wouldn't you have gotten what you deserved by getting caught?" Remus nodded sagely.

" All right then. I'll accept that explanation, but you still get one detention each." he was about to turn around when James' hand shot up.

" I'm afraid that punishment is uncalled for," he began, his eye twinkling with mischief, " We were not responsible for our actions. We established that and you accepted it. And even if we had something coming to us, we already got caught doing something we were not responsible for, so we got whatever we deserved. Therefore, any additional punishment would be unfair." he grinned at the teacher who just stood there, obviously confused. In the end he just shrugged and turned around muttering '...if you weren't my best students...'

The marauders all grinned.at each other and went back to passing notes.

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AN: The key to who's writing the notes. Again.

**James**

_Sirius_

Lupin

Peter

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**Well, that's done.**

_Very interesting revenge, James._

I loved the whole karma thing. Good thinking, both of you. Especially you, Sirius. You came up with it first.

I wonder if the nurse lady will be able to heal him.

Madame Pomfrey? Yeah, she's really good with stuff. Scratches, cuts and such.

_Oh, right, we wanted to talk to you about something, Remus._

**Should we do this right now, Sirius?**

_It's as good a time as any._

Uh... are you sure it can't wait? We ARE in class...

**Doesn't matter... that way you can't run away from us. Remus, you barely came back from seeing your sick aunt last night, no?**

Uh... yeah. You guys saw me come in.

_Well, we would believe you, except Peter saw you in the hospital wing and told us._

*glares at Peter* Well, if you must know... I had a bit of an accident.

_* raises eyebrow* What kind of accident?_

**Yeah, we're all curious...**

Potions... you know... I forgot to add an ingredient.

But we have potions with you. We ARE in potions right now.

Yeah, you were working with me, remember I got splashed and it landed on my arm?

No.

Oh, gods, Peter! You were right there. I got boils on my arm so I went to the infirmary, but I didn't want you guys to worry or anything.

_But Remus, don't you remember the teacher gave you perfect marks on it? *raises eyebrow again*_

Yes, well, that's because HE didn't pour it on himself! I don't want to talk about it anymore.

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Lupin put down his quill and passed the parchment to the other marauders. He had a nervous expression on his face, but he looked quite angry. James and Sirius exchanged a look and James took the parchment and began writing again.

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**Fine, Remus, we won't talk about your accident anymore.**

Good.

_So, Remus, what do you think we should talk about?_

Dunno. Our next class or something?

**Perfect! Astronomy!**

Is it? I didn't remember.

_Well, let's see... something Astronomy related..._

The moon?

**Yes! Excellent idea, Peter. We actually did our homework for Astronomy yesterday...**

_... Yes, it was quite interesting... such a coincidence... did you know your trip to the infirmary was on the night of the full moon?_

Was it? I haven't done that homework yet.

**... Yes, it was... and the month before that, you left to see your dying grandpa on the day of the full moon.**

_We also relized your grandpa died before. In fact, you went to see him on his deathbed in our first year._

Different Grandpa.

Well, we were wondering how many you have, because that was the 5th time you used that on us.

**We really don't want to nag, but what's going on?**

Nothing. Why would anything be going on?

_Look, Remus, we spent an hour looking at the moon charts and we used Peter's journal and all the times you left to visit a sick relative coincided with the full moon._

WHAT are you implying, Sirius?

**He's implying that you have a werewolf relative and that you go to nurse them back to health and keep them company because nobody else will. And yesterday you were in the infirmary because you obviously got attcked while this person was, you know, being a werewolf.**

Pretty smart, aren't you guys? I wish that was the truth...

_It's not? Well that's the only explanation that fits... Unless..._

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Sirius's eyes widened in shock, his father looked amazed and turned to Remus for confirmation. Petter's eyes widened and he gave a little squeal that could have been happy or nervous. Little Lupin looked at the floor and nodded slightly. Sirius gave a triumphant but quiet 'Aha!' And James whispered osmething to Peter. Peter nodded and fell of his chair with a heavy thump.

James raised his hand, interrupting the teacher.

" Sir, Peter fainted. I think we have to take him to the infirmary."

" Fine, Mr. Potter, you can take him."

" But he's much too heavy for me to carry alone."

" Well, then, Mr. Black, help him."

James and Sirius prentended to try to lift Peter, and dropped him hastily.

" Still too heavy." Sirius said, looking at the teacher. He frowned and turned to Lupin.

" Fine, Mr. Lupin, you help them." he answered and returned to reviewing the potions with the students. Lupin, who was looking very shocked, stood up quietly and between the 3 of them, they carried Peter out. As soon as they turned a corner, Peter stood on his own and grinned at James.

" I didn't think that would work."

" Well, it wouldn't have with Mc.Gonagall." Sirius answered.

" Well, to the common room!" James declared and they all ran, dragging a still stunned Lupin, and being tailed by a very tired Harry and Lupin.

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" But why did you never talls us?" an exasperated Sirius whined once they got back to their dormitory. Little Lupin sighed and shook his head.

" I'm a **_werewolf_**! People don't usually take kindly to that. You three are really the only friends I have. I thought if I told you..."

" Well, you thought wrong!" Sirius interrupted him, still frustrated at his friend. " A werewolf! Imagine all the fun we could have had! We've wasted a year! A whole year!"

" Sirius," now it was little Lupin's turn to be exasperated, " I can't be around humans when I'm a werewolf!" Sirius's face fell.

" Oh, yeah. The biting thing." he frowned again. 

" But we could be around you as animals, couldn't we?" James asked with a thoughtful look. Lupin looked confused, but nodded.

" We can become Animagus!" Sirius and James said at the same time. " It'll take some time, of course..." James said, frowning.

" Isn't that... hard? And dangerous?" Peter asked, biting his lip. Lupin nodded.

" Yes. And you're not going to do it." Little Lupin answered with a note of finality in his voice. James and Sirius both raised an eyebrow.

" I'm Serious. I don't want you guys to do that just because..." he stopped, realizing neither of the 3 boys was listening.

" I'm going to be something big. A bear, maybe." Sirius was saying. James shook his head.

" Too big, I think. Maybe you can be a horse... I'll be a stag." Peter looked at them a little oddly.

" I want to be something small, but something neither of you can eat."

" We won't eat you, Peter." Sirius rolled his eyes to the ceiling and Peter blushed slightly.

" I know... just, you know." his eye strayed to Lupin for a second.

" Sirius is right. Come on, you guys. Let's go to to the library and look this up. It'll probably be in the restricted section, though, so we'll need my cloak."

" It's the middle of the day, James!" Sirius began, " We have to wait until night. Besides, Asronomy starts in 15 minutes or so. I actually did my homework last night, I want to get credit."he finished stubbornly.

" Right, right..." James trailed off. Peter turned to Little Lupin expectantly.

" What?" he snapped, Peter jumped slightly.

" Peter wants to know if you're coming to class, Remus." Little Lupin looked surprised.

" Umm... yeah, I guess." 

" What do you mean, you guess? Come on, we haven't finished our chart." Sirius said, obviously exasperated.

" You guys don't mind...? I mean, you're okay with everything?"

" Sure we are! Remus, don't be thick! Of course we're still friends. Why do you think we're becoming Animagi? Do you think we just want to scare the staff or something?" James asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

" Though that would be fun." Sirius added thoughtfully. 

" Come on, then, let's get to class."

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DONE! Yay! Chapter 3 is done. I don't think it has that mnay mistakes. I already read through it. I STILL keep calling Peter, Petter for some reason. Anyway, please review. Aren't you guys happy? 2 chapters in one week! 


	4. Pissing off Sirius Chapter 4

Dwelling On The Past

By: Sailoranime

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**_Okay, Everyone, this is the whole of chapter 4! Don't skip it!_**

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**Disclimer:** Harry Potter, along with everything that belongs in that universe, belongs to J.K. Rowling and a bunch of other companies that are now milking it for all its worth. I, however, am getting nothing out of this other than the satisfaction of writing a good story that people like to review. *hint hint*

**Author's Notes:** Okay, let me explain what happened. I had two copies of this chapter, without even knowing it, and I accidentally uploaded the wrong one. I didn't think to check because I wasn't aware I had 2 copies... anyway, my sister noticed and since some people might just skip over chapter 4 thinking thay had already read it, so I figured I would have to upload it again. So here's the full chapter 4! ^_^

**Full Summary: **Lupin decides to let Harry see some of his memories of James and Lily... a couple of memories from the Marauder's time with no real plot... Harry gets to see when his parents met, when they married, and when he was born along with some of the marauder's adventures. Spoilers from OotP. Obviously.

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**Quote of the Chapter:**

_" No sooner had I reached London that it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left."_

Dumbledore to Harry- HP and The Sorcerer's Stone, Page: somwhere at the end. ^_^

**Authors Opinion:** Translation from Dumbledorian to English: After looking like an idiot when I got to the ministry I realized I'd been duped and rushed back here.

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The scene shifted again and Harry found himself in the DADA classroom. The marauders were standing together, practicing a disarming spell. All four of them were in a group. The teacher appeared to not have noticed until now.

" Black, Lupin, Potter, Pettigrew. In groups of _two_." They all frowned, but split up. James, unsurprisngly, with Sirius. Lupin and Pettrigrew working right beside them. Harry looked at everyone appereance, and realized this was probably their 3rd year. He looked around the room. No sign of his mother. Snape, however, was in this class too. He was in a corner with an evil looking Slytherin.

" Professor Lupin?"

" I'm not your teacher anymore, Harry."

" Sorry. But where's my Mum?"

" Lily?" Lupin looked around the room and frowned. He turned to Harry.

" Did you see her in any of the other memories, Harry?"

" No. I did look around in the last memory and she wasn't there."

" She was at the sorting. I saw her. She must have been sick or something.We haven't met her here. I only got one Hogsmeade visit that year? They kept coinciding with the full moon. I only got to go to the last one. That's when we met Lily." Harry, though still slightly curious, acted as if he was satisfied with that answer, and turned back to his father. What he saw made him laugh. Sirius was doing exactly what the twins had done at one of the DA meetings while the others watched happily. Snape was trying to disarm his partner, but whenever he tried to open his mouth, his own wand would fly out of his hand.He growled and glared at Sirius, who was suddenly practicing with James when Snape turned around. Snape looked at his partner and raised his wand.

" Petri-" Snape began, but James's wand went up quickly and he muttered spell faster than Snape. Snape fell to the floor with a thud and a furius expression on his face. The teacher walked next to Snape.

" Good one, Parkinson. But I did say disarm only... We'll be moving on to these next week. 1 point for Slytherin for the good spellwork, however." Parkinson said nothing and just shrugged, not caring to release Snape from the body bind.

The marauders laughed as Snape struggled to rock from side to side and get enough momentum to turn himself on his side. He finally managed, but he could stop himself in time and he ended face down, unable to move. A Slytherin from across the room spotted Snape and walked over to him, removing the spell as he went. He stopped in front of Snape and offered him a hand. Snape took it and stood up, nodding at the boy in thanks. The boy turned around and headed towards the marauders.

" Think you're pretty smart, don't you, Potter?" the boy hissed menacingly.

" He is really smart. Or at least smarter than you, Avery." Peter answered bravely. Avery scowled at him and turned back to James.

" We're going to destroy you in the match this saturday, Potter. It'll be a lot different than playing the wimps from Hufflepuff or those stupid Ravenclaws. And you, Black, are you sure you won't have another nasty accident with the bludgers like you did last time? Really, one knocked the bat out of your hand and the other one headed stright for you right after that. Isn't that funny?"

" Hilarious. You do remember, of course, that your beaters both hit them towards me one after the other?" Sirius snarled back.

" No... I seem to have forgotten... and if they did, I'm sure it was an accident. After all, you didn't even get a penalty shot."

" Well, Avery, you do remember, of course, that we still won the match **_and_** the quidditch cup?" James answered calmly.

" Yes, my memory isn't that bad. I also remember Black here aiming a bludger at me several times."

" Yes, well, if I remember correctly, you got penalty shots for that. And do remember you missed them all by several feet." Sirius answered triumphantly.

" Well my arm was nearly broken!" Avery hissed.

" That was your left arm. You're right handed." James pointed out, his eye narrowed.

" Yes, well, I had to hold on to my broomstick with my strong hand then, didn't I?"

"You mean that old stardust? You call that a broomstick. It's so ancient the only thing it would really be good for would be sweeping." Sirius answered viciously. Avery's eyes flashed with anger and when he replied his tone was deadly.

" Well, Black, not everyone has the luck to be born into a wealthy family like you and Potter," Sirius looked shocked for a second, he had obviously been unaware of Avery's financial status, otherwise he would have said nothing, but Avery kept going.

" Of course, that might not be such a bad thing, considering your family. All of them dark wizards... and you don't agree with them, do you? Aren't you sad that Mum and Dad don't love you because of that? Your brother just started Hogwarts this year, no? Sorted into Slytherin... I bet his Mum was proud. Probably cried with relief that not all her sons turned out to be a disappointing-"

He had hit a nerve. Avery never finished his sentence. Sirius jumped on him and began punching him, his wand on the floor, forgotten. Sirius turned out to be an excellent fighter. Not once did Avery mange to get a punch in. He kept trying to get his wand, but James stepped on it and pointed his own wand at him just in case. The teacher ran towards them and Sirius finally got off Avery. His face was flushed from all the physical activity and with anger. A lock of hair fell over his eyes, which were still filled with anger.

" Detention, Black and Avery. How dare you fight in class in front of a teacher?" the professor shouted angrily. Sirius said nothing and Avery stood up. Harry noticed with immense satisfaction that Avery's face would probably be bruised for a long time. Sirius simply picked up his bag and walked out of the class. The professor looked like he was about to say something, but instead he turned to James and Lupin.

" You two. Go after him. Calm him down and tell him to come back when he has."

James and Lupin walked out of the class, and once in the hall they jogged after Sirius. Harry barely caught a glimpse of Sirius's robes as he turned a corner. He hurried up too to make sure he didn't come out of the memory. They finally caught up to Sirius after a minute or two.

" Sirius, wait!" James called out, and Sirius turned around, surprised. His surprised expression turned into a frown.

" What did you guys follow me for?"

" Well, we wanted to know what you were going to do." James answered.

" About what?"

" Well, Avery just called you a disappointement." Lupin answered tiredly.

" I would have been more insulted if he had said I was a model son. Do you know what it's like to be related to those people. All pureblood families are related, so I'm related to all sorts of bastards."

" Hey, purebloods over here." James answered grinning, and giving a small wave.

" You know what I mean. I'm not related to Remus here. And my grandfather's sister and your grandfather are like cousins or something, so I doubt that really counts. Hell, I might be related to Snape of all people. I've never quite gotten the courage to check the family tapistry. I'd die of shock."

" It's not so bad. We're in school like 10 months and you spend more than half the summer at my place!"

" Still, it's not so bad for you, but my family... Ugh."

" Come on, Sirius. Cheer up. When you finish the Animagi transformation thing you can turn into a big black dog and scare everyone into thinking you're the Grim." Lupin answered, grinning.

" Of course, so brilliant! Didn't know you had it in you, Moony!"

" Don't call me that." Lupin answered, a faint frown line appearing in his forehead.

" Bur I think it's _cute_..." Sirius said, giving him a malevolent look.

" **_Cute? _**I'll give you cute... next full moon I'll go look for you and bite you. Then we'll see how cute you think I am."

" Fine, then, **_cool_**."

James looked at the two of them exasperated.

" Come on, we have to get to class before they think we skipped out."

" But I DID skip out."

" But WE didn't. Come on, you're coming with us."

" No, I'm not." his face was set and all laughter was gone from his face. " It's a prise thing... I'm throwing a 'tantrum', I can't just come back with my tail between my legs."

" Nobody will see it that way." Lupin said firmly, but Sirius shook his head.

" No. You guys go. The Slytherins **_would_** see it that way. Just tell them you couldn't find me. I'll be in the common room. I still have to finish that essay for Binns either way." Sirius jogged back to the common room, James and Lupin were just left standing in the hall by themselves.

" Stubborn little-"

" James!" a female voice snapped from behind them. They both turned around quickly to see the keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

" James Potter! What are you doing out of class? It better not be without permission, because if you get in trouble and can't play..."

" We have permission. We were just heading back right now."

" Well, good, don't forget practice today, she said over her shoulder as she walked towards the opposite direction.

" I won't." he answered, giving her an innocently charming grin.

" Now, James, you're a bit young to be flirting with girls... especially girls that are a year older than you." she said, laughing.

" Oh, I see the beautiful and talented Eileen would never even think about going out with humble James Potter."

" You are charming, I'll tell you that. That's the reason you're popular, but you're a bit too conceited for my tastes."

" Ah... you know it's all in good fun, Eileen. I know you like Jeffrey Wood." Eileen blushed.

" The only feelings I have for Wood are the feelings any beater has for her captain!" James grinned.

" Right... just so you know, he feels the same way."

James and Lupin walked away, leaving a blushing Eileen with her thoughts. Lupin sighed, and Harry realized he had completely forgotten about him.

" She hung up a huge banner at the next Quidditch game saying she loved Wood, thinking he liked her too."

" He didn't?" Harry asked, feeling guilty for what his father's actions might have caused.

" Well, yes. James had no idea, though. He just made it up... never dreamt Eileen would do something so bold. After Wood got over the shock, he asked her out."

" Wow."

" Yeah, your dad had some matchmaking talents... most of the times it was an accident when he got a couple together, though. And he could never seem to charm Lily." Suddenly, the hall began to shift and for a second Harry was afraid they had strayed too far. Suddenly they were no longer in the hall. Instead, Harry found himself in front of Honeydukes.

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Okay, I'll email a few of the people who reviewed and let them know... I wouldn't want to cheat you out of a chapter. ^_^ So sorry about the mixup. *hands out ice cream*

Okay, if anyone wants to be e-mailed next time I post a chapter, leave you e-mail in the review and say that you want me to e-mail you. Otherwise I might just e-mail you to thank you whether I have a new chapter out or not.

If any of you guys are members on neopets, I have an idea. I've been thinking about opening an HP guild dedicated to the marauders. Not the usual kind of guild with houses and house points and stuff. We can have a regular guild, just dedicated to the marauders. We could link to fan art and fanfiction and have discussions on the board. Start group porjects, sort of like a marauders story where everybody write a little bit of the story, or contests and stuff like that. Have one of the ranks be prankster or something like that. Anyway, if you like this idea or if you would like to be a part of it or just help improve the idea, let me know and maybe we can start something.

Well, I guess that's it. *hands out more ice cream* now be good and review. 


	5. Lily & James

Dwelling In The Past  
  
  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter an do not claim to do so. I am getting nothing out of writing this story. And if you DO sue me, my sister and Aunt are both Lawyers. *grin*  
  
AN: Okay, There was something wrong with the chapter, so I'm reposting it. BTW, the reason my comouter kept restarting was because I had the blaster worm virus. It only affects a few systems, including XP, which it what my new computer is. Anyway, I fixed it so I'm okay now. I thought something was wrong with the computer, I had no idea it was a virus. Anyway, it's really weird because I go it as soon as I connected to the internet, and after that I kept getting these little countdown things and my computer would restart every 10 minutes or so. Anyway, if something like this is happening to you, you probably have that virus.   
  
I've also fixed the Little Lupin problem. Little Lupin wil usually be referred to as Remus, and Big Lupin will only be mentioned clearly so you can tell which one I'm talking about. ^_^  
  
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Quote of the chapter:   
  
" Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... It likes the dark and damp-"   
  
" So light a fire!" Harry choked.  
  
" Yes, of course, but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.  
  
" HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed, " ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"  
  
Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone, Page 278  
  
AN: Hermione sometimes has trouble proving she's not a dunderhead as Snape says in the first book on page 137.  
  
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Sirius, James, and Peter walked into Honeydukes, but Remus didn't follow. Sirius turned around with a grin.  
  
" If you like the outside you'll love the inside. I mean, I know you haven't been here before, but most of the time the inside of the building is better than the outside."   
  
" I know... I'm just... I don't know." Remus said shrugging. Once inside Harry noticed that this Honeydukes was quite different from the Honeydukes he knew. There were no sherbert balls or cockroach clusters, and there was a number of sweets that Harry had never even heard of, some that he knew were no longer made, and some that looked as if they should never had been made. Remus looked as surprised as he did.  
  
" Ooh... look these are new." James said, thrusting a chocolate frog into Remus's hand. "The frogs are okay... but they got these excellent trading cards of famous wizards. They've only got Merlin, Circe, the Four Founders, and Morgana so far. Usually you get Morgana or Circe. I suppose it's their way of making the other super rare until they add more wizards."  
  
" Dumbledore should be on these." Remus said quietly.   
  
" Yeah, I guess he should," Sirius said in a desperate attempt to break the awkward silence that had followed Remus's comment.  
  
" No, I'm serious. Do you think anybody else would have let me come to school despite my... situation?" Remus insisted.  
  
" No probably not... but Dumbldore's good like that." James said.  
  
" Yeah, a bit nuts if you ask me, but still great." Sirius added with a grin.  
  
" Yeah, I guess he is a bit nuts." Remus answered with a grin of his own.   
  
" Remus is right, though. They should put Dumbledore in these... Us too. I can just imagine it. 'The Marauders Four: Consisting of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They currently hold the record for most detentions and points taken off. Famous for sending Howlers to every member of the Ministry of Magic.' I should make it a personal goal to get myself on one of these cards." James said.  
  
" Yeah... right. Come on, let's go pay for this stuff." Sirius answered, pointing to the pile of sweets Peter was carrying for them.   
  
" Damn... line's too long..." Sirius frowned and turned to James with a malicious glint in his eyes. " Any ideas?" James nodded. He took out the invisibility cloak from somewhere under his robes, and the other three formed a sort of wall around him so he could put the cloak on without anyone seeing. After a few seconds the marauders parted and James was nowhere to be seen. Harry looked around for any hint of his father but found none. Sirius, Remus and Peter all went to stand at the end of the line. Harry, still looking for his father, was startled when he heard a voice that he was sure was his father yell.  
  
" Gods, I got Slytherin!" Harry looked towards the source of the voice and saw a startled looking 4th year over by the chocolate frogs. Then he understood. For a second the only thing that was heard was muttering from the people in line, then they all rushed to the boy to look at what Harry guessed was one of the rarest cards. Sirius and the others ran to the owner and paid quickly before all the other people came back. After paying, they all went outside to find James standing there laughing.   
  
" Did you see that? They almost trampled me! I'm lucky I got away!" James said, exhilirated.  
  
" That," Remus began, " was bloody brilliant."  
  
" I agree. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks." The others nodded their agreement, even though Remus didn't really know too much about the Three Broomsticks. Maybe it was a shop for Quidditch supplies?  
  
The four boys, with Harry and Lupin following, walked quietly to the Three Broomsticks. Harry couldn't help but marvel the relationship the marauders had had. Sirius and his father were obviously best friends, but Sirius and Remus were best friends too. Peter, although quiet, was still a part of the group, and he seemed to have his own moments of brilliance, however scarce they were. When they arrived at the Three Broomsticks Peter held the door open for the others and they all chose a booth at the back.  
  
Harry and Lupin both sat on opposite sides of the booth while James went to order the Butterbeers. Harry looked around until his eyes fell on something in the booth across from theirs. His mother. Lupin seemed to notice her at around the same time as Harry, because he was looking the same way. James came back with the Butterbeers and Harry noticed he had started messing up his hair. He handed a Butterbeer to each of them and looked around. His eyes fell on Lily's dark red hair. He looked puzzled for a second. He turned to Sirius.  
  
" Hey, who's that girl? The redhead?" he asked. Sirius shrugged.  
  
" I don't know." he answered.  
  
" Lily Evans." Peter put in helpfully. James stared at him.  
  
" Do you know her?" Peter shook his head.  
  
" No... I know who she is though... she's only in most of our classes. She's been in them since our first year." James frowned.  
  
" I never noticed her."  
  
" You wouldn't." Remus said, snickering.  
  
" What's that supposed to mean?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
" I think he means you're too self absorbed." Sirius answered.  
  
"... and clueless." Remus added.  
  
" She's the one you accidentally hexed in DADA once, Sirius." Peter answered.  
  
" Guess that makes me self absorbed too, I don't even remember apologizing to the poor girl."  
  
" That's because you didn't. You made her robes burt into flames and complained because you got detention." Remus said.  
  
" Oy, now I remember!" James exclaimed, still not taking his eyes off of her, " That was her?" Peter nodded.   
  
" You interested in her, James?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. " Something tells me the James Potter charm won't work on her."  
  
" Wanna bet?" James asked challengingly.  
  
" Sure. 5 galleons."  
  
" Okay, then." James got up and walked over to where Lily and her friends were. He messed up his hair and spoke loudly enough for the others to hear.  
  
" Hello, Evans." he said in a pleasant tone, all signs of mischief gone from his face.  
  
" Hullo." she answered, sounding a bit surpised. " Did you need something?" James shook his head.   
  
" I just have a small question. How did you manage to slip a love potion into my butterbeer, because I'm very suddenly in love." he grinned at her in a charming manner that did not seem to affect her. She was, however, blushing slightly.  
  
" I did no such thing, James Potter!" she stormed, her cheeks still lightly flushed. James seemed taken aback, but recovered rather quickly.  
  
" Well, then why does my heart suddenly yearn to be with you?"  
  
" Well, I think any desire you might have to be with me may very well be coming from another part of your anatomy, Potter." James blushed slightly at this.   
  
" If that's the way you want it, Evans, I won't care." he answered boldly. She looked shocked for a moment. She seemed to recover rather quickly, however.  
  
" How dare you?" she yelled and slapped him. Hard. Harry stared at his mother as she stormed out of the place. He had to admit, his mother had style. James still looked shocked, as did most of the people who had heard. James returned to his seat with the marauders, who were unsuccesfully trying to contain their laughter.   
  
" Clearly, she's not into guys." he muttered darkly.  
  
" Or did it occur to you that maybe she's just not interested in you?" Sirius asked, holding out his palm. James glared at him and took five galleons out of his pocket. Sirius took them.   
  
" Ah... thank you very much. Actually, I think the day you have a kid with that girl will be the day you get on those chocolate frog cards." Sirius grinned. James scowled.  
  
" Actually, now that I think about it," Sirius continued, " any kid you two have together deserves to be on a chocolate frog card."  
  
" We're NOT having any kids together."  
  
" Yeah, didn't she just tell you something like that a few minutes ago? Really, James, you're slow."  
  
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AN: I know... I know... it's stupid to have re-uploaded the chapter JUST for that comment about Harry deserving to be on chocolate frog cards, but I really wanted to get that in. By the way, the MArauder Mayhem guild is now open! If you're a neopets member, please check it out. And if you're not, then sign up and check it out either way. ^_^ Even if you don't want to join, just let me know what you think or give me ideas. If you want to suggest a fanfiction we can link, let me know. ^_^ Anyway, it's under the account 'sailor_melody' Thank you, everyone. * hands out pancakes* Anyway, remember to please review. 


	6. Misunderstandings, Part 1

Dwelling In The Past  
  
  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter an do not claim to do so. I am getting nothing out of writing this story. And if you DO sue me, my sister and Aunt are both Lawyers. *grin*   
  
AN: Chapter 6: I think it didn't upload right the other day, so I'm reloading. Since there are not less reviewers than there used to be, I think I'll start thanking people in my chapters. ^_^ I won't be doing it until next chapter. We're almost halfway there! OR actually, we are halfway there. This is the fifth memory, and I promised 10, so five more and we're finished. I guess I've been updating fast because I haven't been working on any of my stories, except for Blame but I like that one a lot and I want to finish before I lose inspiration, even the one I had going before this. So if you read any of my other chapter stories, excluding Blame, then you might have to wait for an update for a long time. Probably until I finish Dwelling. Let me remind you to check out Marauder Mayhem, possibly the only guild of its kind on Neopets. It's under the account sailor_melody.  
  
I've also fixed the Little Lupin problem. Little Lupin wil usually be referred to as Remus, and Big Lupin will only be mentioned clearly so you can tell which one I'm talking about. ^_^  
  
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By the time they reached the dungeons, neither Harry nor Ron was speaking to Hermione any longer. Undeterred, she took advantage of their silence to maintain an uninterrupted flow of dire warnings, all uttered under her breath in a vehement hiss that caused Seamus to waste five whole minutes checking his cauldron for leaks.  
  
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Page 660  
  
AN: That would make a pretty good distraction for class... If we were allowed to use cauldrons. ^_^ Notes: None really, I just thought it was funny.  
  
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The decor of the Three Broomsticks began to swirl suddenly, and so did the people. Suddenly the scene shifted and Harry found himself in one of the Hogwarts corridors. He could hear James and Sirius's voices approaching.   
  
" That's the guy that Evans is going out with, right?" James asked with a frown.  
  
" Er... I think so." Remus answered hesitantly. James's frown became more pronounced. He took out his wand and pointed it at the unfortunate boy.  
  
" Furnunculus." James said under his breath, the boy fell to the floor crying out. Remus and Sirus exchanged a look.  
  
" Er... James, exactly WHERE did you aim the spell. I can't see any boils." Sirius asked cautiously. Harry noticed he was right. The boy was still on the floor howling with pain with people rushing to help him, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his skin.   
  
" Somewhere nice... Evans likes him because he's apretty boy, so I figured I wouldn't damage his face." Sirius grinned.   
  
"Well, do that one over there." Sirius said, and pointed to a stocky looking Slytherin prefect, James looked confused, but shrugged.   
  
"Okay. Let's see...Wingardium Leviosa!" The boy's bookbag rose 3 feet into the air and then fell on its owners head, knocking him unconcious. James turned to Sirius.  
  
" So who is he? What do you have against him?" James asked casually. Sirius raised an eyebrow.  
  
" Since when do we need a reason to hex someone or make their life miserable?"  
  
" We don't. I'm simply curious." Sirius sighed.  
  
" Name's Lestrange... he-" Remus interrupted.  
  
" Oh, he's the one dating-" he stopped with an 'oof' as Sirius elbowed him hard. A look of comprehension dawned on his face.  
  
" Is he dating someone you like?" James asked. Sirius looked apalled.  
  
" Ugh! No! Disgusting! See what you did, Remus?" Sirius asked, elbowing the werewolf again with a disgusted look on his face.   
  
" He's dating Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix." Remus explained. Sirius glared at him. James looked understanding.  
  
" Yeah... I see what you mean.... disgusting." he answered. Before long they were in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
" Anyone know the new passoword? James asked a little uncomfortably. The others shook their heads.  
  
" Damn... they changed it last night, but we weren't here, remember?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.  
  
" That's the last time I listen to you, Sirius." he muttered darkly. Peter nodded.  
  
" What do I have to do with anything? It's not my fault!" Sirius protested.   
  
" Who suggested we go to the kitchens last night?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
" Well, it's not my fault. We would have made it back in time to hear what they changed it to if Peter hadn't made us stop to go to the bathroom."  
  
" Well, I couldn't hold it in!" Peter protested, " I couldn't wait till we got to the common room."  
  
" Ah... save it." Sirius began, " We all know it's Remus's fault for not finding out this morning... And you're supposed to be the responsible one!" Remus raised an eyebrow.  
  
" Shut it, Sirius." Remus said with a small yawn as he sat by the portrait.   
  
" What are you doing?" James asked.  
  
" Waiting. We can't get in without the password." Remus answered. The others, except for Sirius, shrugged and joined Remus. Sirius walked over to the Fat Lady instead.  
  
" Think you can let us in?" Sirius asked the painting. The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow.  
  
" Only if you have the Pasword." she answered.  
  
" Come on... you know us. Let us in."   
  
" Not without the password." She answered stubbornly. Sirius's eyes narrowed and he walked over to the others, muttering darkly. After a few minutes, they finally heard footsteps. Their spirits were dashed when they saw who it was.  
  
" Evans." Sirius said coldly. Clearly aware that there was as much of a chance of her telling them the password as there was of them letting Snape join the Marauders.  
  
" Locked out?" Lily asked with a malicious, cocky grin that Harry had thought he would never see from his mother. Remus nodded.  
  
" Think you can let us in?" he asked, she seemed to consider it.   
  
" Sure. Password's 'Founders Four'." She smiled and walked away.  
  
" Evans," James began, " Aren't you coming in?"  
  
" No... I have something else to do." she answered and conti ued to walk away. Sirius shrugged.   
  
" We are never letting Snape join us." he muttered, the others looked at him strangely.  
  
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AN: Done. A little unsatisfactory, I know. But that's not the end of the memory. I was overanalyzing, again, and realized there may be hope! Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. They aren't by alphabetical order or by who has more authority, but it you look at it backwards, it shows who dies first. Prongs, then Padfoot, hopefully Womtail after that, and then finally Moony. So maybe it's a little hint on J.K. Rowling's part?   
  
By the way, the Marauder Mayhem guild is now open! If you're a neopets member, please check it out. And if you're not, then sign up and check it out either way. ^_^ Even if you don't want to join, just let me know what you think or give me ideas. If you want to suggest a fanfiction we can link, let me know. ^_^ Anyway, it's under the account 'sailor_melody' Thank you, everyone. I'm not handing out cookies today... my sister think it's stupid... Soooo, if your interested in the MArauder guild idea, leave your neo username or e-mail it to me, and I'll send you an invite so you can take a look at it.. 


	7. Misunderstandings, Part 2

Dwelling In The Past  
  
  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter an do not claim to do so. I am getting nothing out of writing this story. And if you DO sue me, my sister and Aunt are both Lawyers. *grin*   
  
AN: Chapter 6: I think it didn't upload right the other day, so I'm reloading. Since there are not less reviewers than there used to be, I think I'll start thanking people in my chapters. ^_^ I won't be doing it until next chapter. We're almost halfway there! OR actually, we are halfway there. This is the fifth memory, and I promised 10, so five more and we're finished. I guess I've been updating fast because I haven't been working on any of my stories, except for Blame but I like that one a lot and I want to finish before I lose inspiration, even the one I had going before this. So if you read any of my other chapter stories, excluding Blame, then you might have to wait for an update for a long time. Probably until I finish Dwelling. Let me remind you to check out Marauder Mayhem, possibly the only guild of its kind on Neopets. It's under the account sailor_melody.  
  
I've also fixed the Little Lupin problem. Little Lupin wil usually be referred to as Remus, and Big Lupin will only be mentioned clearly so you can tell which one I'm talking about. ^_^  
  
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"Creature-Induced Injuries  
  
Dangerous  
  
Dai Llewellyn Ward  
  
Serious Bites"  
  
The sign over the ward Mr. Weasley is in at St. Mungo's. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Page 487  
  
AN: I just read this on Mugglenet acouple of days ago. Usually I do funny quotes, but this one freaked me out. Some of you may have seen this already, but the first words in that are Creature(Kreacher) Dangerous, Dai(Die?) Serious(Sirius?) Weird, no? J.K. Rowling's evil... she even put elaborate hints about Sirius in there. Well, maybe not, but it seems too much of a coincidence.  
  
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The four boys stepped into the Gryffindor common room, and Remus headed staight for a table, throwing down his bookbag and taking out a Transfiguration book. Sirius frowned.  
  
" Moony, you're going to STUDY???" he asked, with a disgusted look on his face. Remus nodded.  
  
" We have a test tomorrow, Black. And DON'T call me Moony." Sirius looked a bit irate at the use of his last name. He shrugged it off and sat down across from Remus, who was now practicing his wand movements.  
  
" Your swish is too much like your flick. I can't tell them apart." Sirius pointed out when a piece of parchment on the floor turned into a squirrel and bit an unfortunate Peter, who had been standing closest to it. Remus frowned.  
  
" My aim was just a little off... There's nothing wrong with my swish." he responded icily. Sirius shrugged.  
  
" Whatever you say, but when you transfigure things into animals, you're supposed to do it with a flick, not a swish." he replied smuggly. Remus scowled.  
  
" Are you fogetting something, Sirius?" James asked him pointedly, sitting down himself after disposing of Peter's attacker. Sirius's expression was one of boredom.  
  
" Probably. Refresh my memory."  
  
James sighed.  
  
" The Animagus project." he said to Sirius, ruffling his hair without turning around as the entry to the common room opened.   
  
Sirius looked amused.  
  
" It was only Gudgeon, James." James shrugged.  
  
" Anyway, I thought we figured out we should be done by next year?" he asked, his tone casual, but Harry noticed some anxiety had crept into his voice.  
  
" Yes, but we need to plan it at least a bit, you dolt."  
  
" We can do that later." Sirius said with an impatient wave of his hand. This time it was James's turn to shrug. Sirius looked around tensely for a minute before quietly getting up and attempting to leave without being noticed. Remus, obviously aware of what Sirius was attempting and still bitter about the slight on his wand movements, loudly asked where Sirius was going. Sirius scowled.  
  
" Nowhere that concerns you, Moony."   
  
" Embarassed, Sirius?" James taunted. Harry felt suddenly anxious, as if there was a huge fight coming. James had a mocking expression on his face.  
  
" Going to meet with a girl, are you, Sirius?" he asked in a sly voice. " Why are you trying to hide it from us?"  
  
" I have to go do something, but I'm not hiding anything. You would think I was trying to sneak out! Just because you're so bloody immersed in your books that you didn't see me doesn't mean I waas trying to get away undetected of something! If I was meeting a girl, I wouldn't try to keep it quiet." Sirius almost yelled. James looked a bit angry now, too.  
  
" Calm down, Sirius. We're just curious who you're going to see." Remus answered, apparently trying to get the other two to reconcile. James calmed down visibly, and Sirius quickly manipulated his features into the haughty expression he had worn in Snape's pensieve.   
  
" I should be back in half an hour or so." he said shrugging, and waked out. As soon as he was out of the portrait hole, James spoke.  
  
" Wonder why he was being such a prat..." Remus shrugged. Suddenly James eyes narrowed.  
  
" Remember what Evans said?" he asked Remus. Remus shook his head.   
  
" Sorry, mate, but I don't hang on to her every word like you." James glared at him, but he still had a preoccupied expression on his face.  
  
" She said she had something to do.... That's the same thing Sirius said!" James looked around the common room. " Evans isn't here..." Remus's eyes wudened slightly and he looked like he was going to laugh.  
  
" Sirius and Evans? Come off it, Potter! Sirius would never go for a girl someone else was interes..." he trailed off, and Harry saw the doubts forming in his head. " I mean.... especially if it was a girl you were interested in.... Especially Lily..." but that was not very comforting to his father, owing to the fact that Remus now looked as doubtful as James.  
  
Harry realized his expression must have been worse than his fathers. But Lupin wouldn't show him something like that. Would he...? Lupin, apparently reading his thoughts as everyone often did, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  
  
" Your father was very... protective. He would hex any guy for even looking at Lily. A bit paranoid, as you can tell." Harry bit his lip.  
  
" So... er... where did Sirius go?" he asked nervously. Lupin grinned.  
  
" To this day, I still don't know. But he wasn't with Lily." Harry sighed, and was about to ask how Lupin could be so certain of that, when James, ignoring all of Remus's feeble assurances, jumped to his feet and almost ran to the protrait whole. He was almost there when the portrait flung open, missing him by mere inches, and Lily, accompanied by an ancient looking professor came in.  
  
" Well, dear," the prefessor was saying, " he should be fine in a few days. The damage was done in a part of his anatomy that you... Ah... hopefully don't make use of." The old witch was blushing slightly. James snickered quietly, looking very relieved. The old witch looked around.   
  
" Well, I must get going... I have something to do." Remus, looking very relieved also, gave James a pointed look. James grinned, looking a bit embarassed that he had over reacted to such a commonly used phrase. He seemed to shrug it off rather quickly, though, as he walked back to the table where Remus was trying, unsucessfully, to stop his laughter.  
  
" So I wonder where Sirius is." James asked. Remus shrugged.  
  
" Who knows... try using the two way mirror. Maybe he has it on him." James considered the idea for a second, and then dug through his bag, looking for the mirror. Harry suddenly remembered the broken mirror lying at the bottom of his trunk. His stomach tightened, remembering how much trouble could have been prevented if only he had looked at it earlier. Harry felt Lupin's hand on his shoulder.  
  
" You might want to go see, Harry." he said, his expression sober. He too looked sad, almost as if he had read Harry's thoughts. Harry apprehensively walked over to James, who had rested the mirror agains a stack of books on the table so that it was standing up at an angle.  
  
" Sirius." he said simply. The colors in hte mirror began to swirl, and the only thing seen in the mirror was black cloth. Harry could hear Sirius's voice coming from the mirror.  
  
" What was...? Oh, the mirror... What the hell does James want now?" Sirius's muttering could be heard quite clearly, and Harry was sure he was aware that James could hear him. Suddenly, the image in the mirror shifted, and Siriu's face appeared. Harry burts out laughing. Sirius was wearing a ski mask. It was quite illogical. Why would Sirius need a ski mask in Hogwarts? James looked very confused.  
  
" Sirius, what the hell are you wearing?" he said, in a none too calm voice. Remus stood up suddenly, almost knocking his chair over, to join James. Peter looked up from his homework too, and moved his chair closer to James. Sirius looked confused for a second, and the he quickly pulled it off, but not before Remus and PEter saw him.  
  
" What were you wearing that for, Sirius?" Peter asked . Sirius looked very annoyed.  
  
" Never you mind. I really have to get going." he said with a frown, and before James could protest, he tapped the mirror with his wand and the image diasppeared.  
  
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AN: Done. I was overanalyzing, yet again, and I noticed something. When Hagrid arrives at James & Lily's house, it is in ruins. Since Voldemort was really weak after he attacked Harry, he could have hardly destroyed the house. I always thought he had just Alohomora'd his way in and killed the two quickly, but since the house was in ruins, it makes me think that James and Voldemort might have dueled for a while before Voldemort managed to kill him. If Lily ran to Harry's room as soon they saw Voldy, then what exactly was she doing while they dueled? I'm merely speculating, really. ^_^ But then again, I haven't checked this out with Harry's memories of that night in PoA, so it might not have been like that at all.  
  
By the way, the Marauder Mayhem guild is now open! If you're a neopets member, please check it out. And if you're not, then sign up and check it out either way. ^_^ Even if you don't want to join, just let me know what you think or give me ideas. If you want to suggest a fanfiction we can link, let me know. ^_^ Anyway, it's under the account 'sailor_melody' Thank you, everyone. I'm not handing out cookies today... my sister think it's stupid... Soooo, if your interested in the Marauder guild idea, leave your neo username or e-mail it to me, and I'll send you an invite so you can take a look at it.. 


	8. Quidditch

Dwelling In The Past  
  
  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and do not claim to do so. I am getting nothing out of writing this story, and since nobody is reading this, I'll just stop.  
  
AN: Chapter 7: Hello, next chapter! I'm trying to do this as fast as possible. Hopefully I can finish before next term starts. ^_^  
  
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Quote of the week:   
  
" Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry-"  
  
" They won't," said Harry.  
  
" That you're safe-"  
  
" That'll just depress them."  
  
" -and you'll see them next summer."  
  
" Do I have to?"   
  
Lupin smiled but made no answer.  
  
Harry & Lupin's conversation before they leave #4 Privet Dr. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Page 54  
  
AN: Seeing as this will eventually show how Harry and Lupin manage to develop a healthy relationship with Lupin as Harry's guardian, I decided to put in something with both of them. I thought it's one of the best examples of their relationship during OotP.  
  
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One again, the image shifted and the colors began to swirl until Harry felt slightly dizzy. When they finally stopped, they were in the stands in the Quidditch field. Harry looked around, and felt slightly disppointed when he didn't see Sirius or James. Harry and Lupin were both in between a 15 year old Remus and Peter. Then he understood why Lupin had chosen this memory. The Quidditch teams were coming out, and Harry could see what was unmistakebly Sirius's long hair and James's untidy head. He was going to watch his father and Sirius play Quidditch.  
  
He turned to Lupin, who was watching the captains shake hands with a slightly sad expression on his face. He seemed to sense Harry's eyes on him, because he turned around and smiled at him. Harry turned back to the field in time to see them kick off. He watched as Sirius and his father started doing an elaborate set of tricks in the air, circling each other, flying straight at each other, and missing hitting objects and players by mere inches.   
  
" There go Potter and Black, giving an example of what the new Sliver Arrow can do. Dunno how the Slytherins think they can win with two Silver Arrows on the team. They're the newest, and fastest brooms around." Harry looked up and saw the girl he knew was Neville's mother doing the commentary. Lupin followed his gaze and spotted her.  
  
" Frank and Alice were both very good at Quidditch. Too bad Neville didn't inherit their talent." he said, Harry felt his stomach knot up as he thought of Mrs. Longbottom, whom he had seen at St. Mungos. Instead of wallowing in those feelings, he turned back to watch the game.  
  
" James Potter in posession of the Quaffle.... He passes to Eileen... Ooh! Sirius Black, careful with those bludgers! Eileen passes to.... Oh! Slytherin in posession. It seems neither of the seekers have seen the snitch... wait!the Gryffindor seeker is diving, and Flint is following.... No! Longbottom was faking! He hasn't seen the snitch!"  
  
Sirius was flying from one end of the field to the other, not only defending the team from the bludgers, but rather chasing after them and aiming towards the Slytherins, not letting any of them even get close to the other players. He stopped, obviously done whith whatever strategy had been planed, and flew towards the others. On the other side of the field, James was holding the quaffle and flying towards the goal post with Eileen following, Sirius quickly joined them, and beat away the bludgers the Slytherins had hit towards James.   
  
" GRYFFINDOR SCORES! The Slytherin keeper is no match for Potter! Oh! Black takes bludger for the Gryffindor seeker! Slytherin is posession now... Malfoy flies towards the goal post... let's see if Wood can block it... Oh! Spinnet steals the quaffle! Gryffindor in posession now!"  
  
James was flying below Spinnet, who was now being sorrounded by the Slytherin chasers. Spinnet noticed James, and dropped the Quaffle. The Slytherins noticed too late. James was had already scored by the time they realized what had happened. Not far from them, Frank Longbottom was chasing the snitch with Sirius flying around hims like a hawk, hitting all the bludgers the Slytherins were aiming towards them, their own seeker being on the other side of the field. Suddenly, two bludgers flew towards them, and Sirius did not manage to block both of them.  
  
" Black gets hit by a bludger again! Oh! To the face! Too bad, cause he really is cute. Don't worry, Frank, you know I love you." Alice added as Frank, now having lost sight of the snitch, looked at her. After hearing her last comment, he blew a kiss at her and started circling again.   
  
Harry's train of thought was interrupted by someone speaking behind him.   
  
" Alice is right... Black really is cute." a girl was saying. Another voice answered, but this one was really familiar.  
  
" Oh, see, it's comments like that that inflate his ego so much." Harry turned around, sitting behind him with all her friends was his Lily.  
  
" Oh, yes. I remember. You like Potter better, don't you?" the first girl answered. Lily looked indignant.  
  
" I do not! Besides, have you noticed something?" she said, and cocked her head in Remus's direction. Her friends giggled.  
  
" It shouldn't matter if you don't like him." a second girl put in.   
  
" Oh! Potter is hit and almost knocked from his broom by a bludger aimed at him by the Slytherin beater! Penalty for Gyrffindor!" Harry looked at James, who looked bloody even from a distance, and then to Sirius, who looked just as bloody, and then to Lily, who was standing up, looking angry.   
  
" Bloody hell! What was that? He didn't even have the Quaffle! They just want to take him out of the game!" she practically yelled at her friends as she sat down. The anger had subsided a little and had been partly replaced by a worried look. All her friends exchanged a look.  
  
" I thought you didn't like James?" a third girl asked with mock innocense. Lily turned pink.  
  
" Well, I don't! But I do want Gryffindor to win, you know!" she answered with a glare, but the way her eyes kept darting to James gve her away.  
  
Meanwhile, James had gotten the Quaffle and was heading towards the goal post once more. Sirius was following Frank Longbottom again, with the Slytherin seeker only meters behind them. Harry took a look at the Scoreboard. The Slytherins now had 50 points, but Gryffindor was winning by 30 points. James scored again, making the difference 40 points. The Slytherins were playing so dirty that Sirius and James now looked like they would need to take a trip to the infirmary. They actually cheated more than the Slytherins back in his own time. It seemed being the best players on the team meant they got attacked more often than the others. The Slytherins kept aiming bludgers at them in hopes of getting them out of the game, and the rest of the school got angrier at every attempt, shouting threats at the Slytherin players. Harry finally understood what Remus had said about James and Sirius being the most popular students at school, the best at everything.   
  
Finally, just before the Slytherin seeker caught up to Sirius and Longbottom, Frank caught the snitch.  
  
" FRANK LONGBOTTOM CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE MATCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"  
  
The people in the stand roared with excitement. The Slytherin's booing was completely drowned by the cheers. Remus and Peter ran towards the field to meet James and Sirius, who were ow hugging, blood all over each other's robes. It wasn't long before a swarm of girls ran towards them, enveloping the whole team in hugs. The girls focusing mostly on Sirius and James. Harry was extremely surprised when an excited and screaming Lily ran towards them and hugged Sirius and James, giving them both quick kisses on the cheek and jumping with excitement. She then proceeded to hug all the other members of the team, leaving without another word to them. James looked shocked for a minute, and then grinned.  
  
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AN: I think I outdid myself this time!!! No over-analyzing this time. Except, did anyone else notice green smoke came out of his gringotts vault the first time they opened it? ^_~ Oh, and I was worried about Wormtail's silver hand too, but werewolves aren't harmed by silver. They die if someone shoots a silver bullet at their heart, but I don't think silver will hurt them just by touching them. So unless Peter strangles him with that silver hand, I think our Moony is safe. ^_^ BTW, I made James a chaser because I remember the book saying he was a chaser, though I couldn't find it. And I finally stopped mistyping Peter as Petter, now I keep typin PEter for some reason.  
  
Well, everyone wanted to know why Sirius was wearing a ski mask, but I can't tell you. : ( You see, Lupin says that "until this day, I have no idea." or something like that, so Moony can't show Harry. If I were to write what he was doing, it would have to be a sort of spin-off story. And unless people ask me to write it, I won't.  
  
By the way, the Marauder Mayhem guild is now open! If you're a neopets member, please check it out. And if you're not, then sign up and check it out either way. ^_^ Even if you don't want to join, just let me know what you think or give me ideas. If you want to suggest a fanfiction we can link, let me know. ^_^ Anyway, it's under the account 'sailor_melody' Thank you, everyone. Soooo, if your interested in the Marauder guild idea, leave your neo username or e-mail it to me, and I'll send you an invite so you can take a look at it..  
  
BTW, since you guys think cookies are cool, I'm starting up again. ^_^ *hands out brownies* I had a few left over from earlier today. 


	9. In the Bathrooms

Dwelling On The Past 

Dwelling on the Past 

_By: Sailoranime_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This is written for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others only. **

AN: Yes, I realize this took while, like a week or so, but I had to write a few more things, you know. I can't abandon all my other work. This is dedicated to my 200th reviewer! After reviews stopped coming for chapter 8, I thought 'I'll wait until I get 200 reviews before I write chapter 9!' I thought it was a brilliant tactic for procastination. After all, it could take weeks for someone else to stumble on to the story, but alas, the next day my 200th review came. It's not a bad thing. I just wish I had had a longer break. ^_^ 

Full Summary: After Sirius's death in OotP, Lupin uses the Pensieve to let Harry see his memories of the Marauders. Includes Marauder adventures, some James/Lily fluff, James and Lily's wedding, and Harry's birth. Will be about 12 chapters long. 10 memories in total. Eventually, Harry and Lupin learn to er... interact better and become something of a family. No slash. 

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Slowly, the noise from the cheering crowd faded, and suddenly, they were in a bathroom. Alone. It took Harry a minute to realize the Marauders were probably under the invisibility cloak. Harry looked around. From the colors, it looked like it was the Slytherin's bathroom. How odd. 

" Do you hear something?" asked a panicky voice harry recognized. Wormtail. Then came another voice. 

" Stop being so jumpy, Wormtail. I've found it." Remus whispered. Peter made a noise of disbelief as the sound of a wand tapping on brick was heard, and the bricks shrunk, falling into a neat 1/2 foot tall pile of stacked bricks in the same order they would have been if they were still their normal size. Harry heard soft footsteps going into the tunnel and followed. 

" Where does this lead?" Harry asked. Lupin yawned. 

" The gryffindor bathroom. The main Bathrooms are all connected. The tower, dungeons, and every other house is connected too. Nobody has ever found where, though. I suspect Dumbledore knows, though. Can you imagine if the Slytherins had access to Gryffindor tower. Since the bathrooms are smaller, and outside the actual house, which means you still need a password to get in there, it was easier to find the connection. We looked in every spot the old journals from other troublemakers said, but neither of them were right. In the end, we asked a house elf if the rumors were actually true. They were very happy to tell us to tap the special brick and we'd find it. They didn't tell us which special brick, though." 

"Why would the houses and bathrooms be connected?" Harry asked with a frown, straining his ears for the sound of the two boy's footsteps. 

"Well, if someone, somehow managed to attack the school and get inside one of the towers or dormitories, everyone in there could just go to one of the other houses and hide there. The tunnel would open automatically, and then close after they were inside, keeping the enemy out. They're all connected to the Great Hall too. The castle would open the tunnel to what it believes to be safest destination." 

" What it believes to be safest destination? That castle thinks?" Harry asked in shock. 

" Something like that. I guess you could say it's a live. Its instinct is to keep the inhabitants safe, and it will do everything it can to succeed in its goal. For example, the stairs move, right? But have you ever noticed that when you _really_ need to get somewhere, it'll even create shortcuts that weren't even possible before? It sense things. One death eater came here once, can't remember his name, after the fall of Voldemort. He had come under the pretense of wanting to confess to Dumbledore about being a death eater, and becoming a spy and turning his wand in to Dumbledore. 

"The front doors refused to let him in, and he was not pleased. Took out his wand and tried to force his way in. Tried everything he could. Dumbledore finally came down, I hear, but the doors refused to let him out. He finally convinced them, and they opened just in time for Dumbledore to see the Death Eater disappear. I'm not sure what happened, but apparently, the wand had been a portkey. The Death Eater was to give Dumbledore the wand seconds before it was scheduled to activate. The fool had been holding his wand, trying to open the doors when it activated instead, and he was transported to some sort of lair where no less than 50 Death Eaters were waiting for Dumbledore to appear. He was dead in a second." 

" They thought he was Dumbledore?" Harry asked, confused. Lupin nodded. 

" They attacked as soon as they saw him, I suppose. Better that way, I think. He died quickly. If he hadn't been killed like that, they would have tortured him for failing. And eventually killed him." he shuddered slightly, and Harry realized it was probably best if he asked no more questions. 

They had been walking for a couple of minutes when Harry saw the end of the tunnel, and they both made it out right after the other two. Harry saw James and Sirius waiting as Remus and Peter took off the invisibility cloak. 

"So you found it, Moony?" Sirius asked with a grin. Remus rolled his eyes. 

" Nah. Padfoot. I'm still stuck over there." he answered sarcastically. 

" Looks like some Slytherin rubbed off on you. You were obviously there too long." James retorted. Remus just rolled his eyes. 

" Did you guys find the brick we're supposed to tap in _this_ bathroom?" he asked. Sirius grinned. 

" No, that's why you're still stuck behind the wall." Remus just shook his head in exasperation. 

" Forget it... Do you guys have the stuff?" 

" Yeah, it's right here." James answered, lifting a bag of what looked like cans from the floor. 

" A brilliant stroke of luck that was, Peter," Sirius commented, " I can't believe Snivelly was actually stupid enough to not tell them to change the password to the restroom after you overheard it. But they'll change it as soon as they find what we've done!" The other laguhed too, and climbed into the passage. Once they were nside, Remus tapped one of the outside bricks, and the brick went back to their original size, covering the entrance again. Harry wondered what would have happened if he and Lupin had not made it in on time. Would they be able to go through it? The trip to the Slythrin bathroom was much faster, due to the fact that they were not longer being slowed down by having to stay under the invisibility cloak, plus the boys seemed in very much of a hurry to finish whatever it was they were going to do. 

Remus had left the entrance to the slytherin side open, and nobody bothered to close it after they were all safely in the bathroom. James put a silencing charm around the room so whatever noise they made could not be heard outside. Sirius immediately took something out from the bag, which was a carton of eggs, shrunk so they would weigh less. He returned it to its normal side, and began throwing them around the room. Peter took out the cans and started opening them with his wand and handing them to James, who was messing with the taps. Remus closed the opening, smeared some egg, ketchup, and a number of other things on it, and opened the entrance back up. He closed it again, only to open it up again. Sirius stared at him. 

"What are you doing?" he asked with a frown on his face. Remus looked irritated. 

" Don't you think it will look odd if the whole wall is covered in stuff except for that small section. Dumbledore will know about the passage, he'll know it was us." Sirius nodded and went back to swinging something that looked like very much coleslaw at the walls and ceiling. Harry wondered where everything had come from. He wasn't even sure they had ketchup in the kitchens, let alone raw eggs and coleslaw. 

Harry turned to James, who was putting cans of awful looking things under the taps, and amazingly enough, the taps seemed to be _drinking_ it. _'The cans must be refilling themselves'_, thought Harry. Remus looked a little worried. 

" Do we really want to pollute the water supply?" James shook his head. 

" It's not that much. It'll just pour this stuff out for 10 minutes or so. It won't get into any of the other bathrooms." 

Sirius looked at it with a disgusted look on his face. " What _is_ that James?" 

" Do you really want to know?" 

" I don't know. You tell me." 

James grinned. " Rotten turnip soups, brussel sprout puree... stuff like that." 

Sirius made a gagging noise. Peter looked revolted. Remus looked amused. 

" I think we're done." James said, looking around the room. " It'll only take a few minutes for them to clean up this mess with magic. Hopefully they won't find out about the taps until _after_ they clean up. Maybe Snape will decide to take a shower for once, turn on the tap, and then jump in the tub without checking what comes out of it first." Sirius sniggered. 

" I hope no one has time to clean up with magic so they'll make Filch clean. It'll be revenge for our last detention. " he said viciously. James nodded in agreement. 

" If Filch cleans, he'll be using water from the taps, and they'll find out about the turnip soup and the other... oddities." Remus pointed out. James and Sirius both looked a little disappointed. But Sirius regain his composture quickly, walking to all of the tubs and making sure that there was no trace of the turnip soup or the other things that were supposed to pour out in there, and then picked up the invisiblity cloak, handing it to James. 

" You close up after us and open the passge on the other side. It'll be easier that way." James nodded and put on the cloak. The others walked into the dark passage, their wands lighting the way, the only sign that James was still there was the opening closing, a muttered counterspell for the silencing charm, and the closing of a door before Harry had to catch up with the others. 

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AN: Okay, first of all, I have one thing to say. Kindly refrain from biting my head off. ^_^ Yes, I believe most of you think James a seeker. Yes, I know he was playing with the snitch in OotP, and yes, I do remember Harry saying James had excellent reflexes. BUT, Quidditch is a sport. I think just about every sport needs to have players with good reflexes. Second, it is my fanfiction, and I chose to go with what J.K. said. After all, she wrote the books. And while the reviews were excellent, very many of you pointed out that James was a seeker. My answer: It doesn't matter. First of all, I'd have to rewrite chapter, which wouldn't make sense. Second of all, if I had made James a seeker, I would have gotten the same amount of corrections from the people who believe he was a chaser. In conclusion, re-write that chapter the way you want, if it makes you feel better. After all, there won't be, as far as I know, any more mention of his quidditch position. I'm not trying to be rude ro anything, in fact, I'm trying NOT to be rude. It just gave me lots of headaches and disinspired me, so I'm letting you know in hopes you'll understand. 

With that said, let's move to more important issues, like Marauder Mayhem. The guild, on neopets.com under the account sailor_melody, is still open to anyone who is fan of the Marauders. I won't go into much detail because this isn't an advertising service or anything, but we offer links to our favorite Marauder fanfiction, fanart, contests, links to groups and mailing lists like 'Sirius Denail', and special events on the full moon. The full moon idea was actually from one of my reviewers, whoever it was, take a bow. ^_^ If you're interested, the URL is . Well, that's it. 

Except for one more thing. I don't like my username much anymore, so I think I might change it. Maybe I'l become 'crazypsychowritergirl' or something. My friend suggested I just add something to it, like Sailoraime Siriusly mourning or Siriusly Mourning Sailoranime. I'm still not sure. Maybe I'll start liking it again... Anyway, any input on that appreciated. ^_^ actually, input on anything is appreciated. Anyway, bye, don't forget to review, and good night. * hands out popcorn* Mm... popcorn. 

Just one last thing! The Dwelling spin off has been posted already. Now you can find out why Sirius was wearing a ski mask. ^_^ 


	10. Tragedy strikes Introduction to the real...

Dwelling On The Past 

Dwelling on the Past 

_By: Sailoranime_

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_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This is written for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others only. **_

AN: I know it's been a little more than two weeks since my last update, and I'm really sorry. Things have been... odd lately. I just finished IiI and posted the second chapter of my parody, so I'm not completely inactive. And... I FORGOT THE QUOTE OF THE CHAPTER!!! I didn't remember to put it in last chapter... I'm so sorry... Forgive me? 

Full Summary: After Sirius's death in OotP, Lupin uses the Pensieve to let Harry see his memories of the Marauders. Includes Marauder adventures, some James/Lily fluff, James and Lily's wedding, and Harry's birth. Will be about 12 chapters long. 10 memories in total. Eventually, Harry and Lupin learn to er... interact better and become something of a family. No slash. 

Other info on Story: We have like 4 chapters left until the end. Great, isn't it? 

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Quote of the Chapter: " Sirius?" 

" Harry!" 

" You're dead!" 

"I'm back!" 

" I CRIED for you!" 

" It means you love me." 

- Harry and Sirius, From Behind the Veil 

AN: This quote is actually from a fanfiction. From my own parody of stories where Sirius comes back to life. 

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Suddenly, surrounded by the now familiar swirl of colors, they were out of the restroom and under the tree Harry had seen in Snape's pensieve. 

The four boys were sitting down, looking distraught. James was leaning against the tree, his eyes closed, his face tear-stained. Sirius was looking across the grounds, but not seeing anything. Remus 's face was full of sympathy. Peter was looking shocked and nervous. Harry wanted to ask Lupin what had happened, but now even he looked somber. No one spoke for a few minutes, then Harry heard a familiar voice call out. 

"James!" It was Lily. She was running towards them, looking very distraught. James opened his eyes, but closed them again as she finally reached them and plopped down next to him. 

" I just heard. How...?" she trailed off, almost as if afraid to ask the question. James didn't speak. Lily seemed to understand and she waited patiently until James felt ready to answer. It seemed like an eternity before he spoke. 

"Voldemort." his voice shook slightly, but there was no emotion in it. Peter gave a little squeak of fright. James's eyes were still closed. " Dumbledore just told us." 

Lily's eyes widened. 

" Voldemort did it?" 

James nodded. 

" Did... anyone survive?" 

James nodded again. " My mother. She's gone into hiding now." 

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?" James didn't answer. " James, did you hear me? I asked if-" 

" There's nothing you can do, Evans." Sirius cut her off rather rudely. Lily looked taken aback, but said nothing. 

" Okay," Lily gave in, but she sounded as if she was going against her better judgement, "If you need me... James, can you hear me? I said if you need me-" 

" He won't." Sirius snapped again. Lily bit her lip softly and walked away, throwing a last sympathetic look at the two boys. 

" That was rather rude, Padfoot." Remus said softly. Sirius shrugged and lay down on the grass. It was a few minutes before anyone spoke again. It was James who finally broke the silence. 

" Blasted the whole house with a flick of his wand." It wasn't a question. Justs a statement. 

" So that's just how powerful the Dark Lord is..." Peter said with a small squeak. 

" Revenge." answered Sirius. His face was devoid of all emotion, but his voice was filled with anger. Remus just shook his head. 

" This isn't some little feud with Slytherins, Sirius. This is an extremely powerful dark wizard who-" 

" Sirius is right. We need to get revenge. " James answered. Remus looked shocked. 

" James, I know it was your family but you two can't rush off and do something stupid." 

" You don't understand, Moony. They were the only family that I've ever been proud of belonging to. They took me in, Remus. They didn't deserve anything like this." 

" I _know_ they didn't, but now isn't the time to think about revenge." 

" It's as good a time as any." James countered. 

"Try telling your mother that. Do you think she wants to lose you and Sirius? You two are the only family she has left." Neither Sirius nor James answered. A few minutes passed before anyone spoke. 

" I never thought it would affect us. It... it just never seemed like the problems that plague the world would… or even could _ever_ reach us... but they did." Sirius finally said, breaking the silence. James nodded in agreement. He leaned back down against his tree trunk and sat there for a minute before his eyes flew open again and he began looking through his bag. The others looked at him in confusion until he brought out a small dagger. Sirius's eyes widened slightly in realization, and he gave a small nod, taking the dagger from James. 

" What are they going to do?" Harry asked Lupin as his father took out a small bowl of sorts. Lupin didn't answer, and Harry didn't ask again, observing the others instead. In one quick motion, Sirius made a small cut in his hand and let blood fall into the bowl. Remus's eyes widened. 

" You can't be serious!" Peter squeaked. The others ignored him. Sirius looked at Remus. Remus nodded and took the dagger, piercing his own skin and letting his blood join Sirius's. Remus looked at Peter questioningly. Peter nodded, still looking doubtful. He too cut himself and let the blood fall into the bowl. Then he handed it back to James. James took a deep breath and let his own blood fall into the bowl, mixing with the blood of the others. 

" As long as we live, we'll fight against Voldemort and those trying to harm us and our loved ones. We will sacrifice ourselves for the safety of others and we will let nothing separate us. We will fight. No matter what." James said quietly. Sirius and Remus nodded, and Peter just sat there, frozen. 

" And so the blood oath is completed." 

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AN: Corny? Yes. Sorry. Btw, did you notice Wormtail didn't nod? That's kind of on purpose, but you can probably tell. You see, he's still kind of bound to that promise because his blood was in the bowl too, but he didn't nod or really accept the 'conditions' of the blood oath, so he wasn't completely bound to it or anything. It's kind of complicated. Anyway, you know the drill. Please review. ^_^ 

Oh, and just a quick reminder about Marauder Mayhem. The guild, on neopets.com under the account sailor_melody, is still open to anyone who is fan of the Marauders. I won't go into much detail because this isn't an advertising service or anything, but we offer links to our favorite Marauder fanfiction, fanart, contests, links to groups and mailing lists like 'Sirius Denail', and special events on the full moon. The full moon idea was actually from one of my reviewers, whoever it was, take a bow. ^_^ If you're interested, the URL is . Well, that's it. 

Just one last thing! The Dwelling spin off has been posted already. Now you can find out why Sirius was wearing a ski mask. ^_^ So many people asked me to write it, but very few have actually read it. 


	11. The Wedding and Singing Ducks

Dwelling in the Past  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: Sure let me just go find the rights to it... I have them here somewhere... I know I left them right next to the cheetos...  
  
AN: Okay, here it is! Chapter 11. I don't usually do this, but I'd like to complain. My quote of the chapter will once again be from my parody. Why?   
  
1. I can't think of any quotes right now. I lost my list.  
  
2. I just posted chapter 3 like 4 days ago and 4 people reviewed. 4!! After the first 2 chapters got like 15 reviews EACH! I found it somewhat upsetting because I wasn't sure it was as good as the others, but COME ON! 4???? Anyway, that was just sad and something of a blow to my ego, so I'm going to post a little part of it here because I need to know. Was it funny?  
  
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Quote of the chapter:  
  
" Harry! You're not supposed to say! This is like the night your parents died, it will forever be sorrounded by speculation and shrouded in mystery." Sirius told him wisely.   
  
" Well, that's stupid." Harry retorted, but shrugged and did not insist on asking questions. After all, he's the boy who never wonders about his parents birthdays and never thinks about what they did for a living when they were... you know, living.  
  
" Well, we're glad you're all here!" Mrs. Weasley said, turning to give Dumbledore a nasty look. Dumbledore, however, had vanished. Hedwig, though, was sitting the dresser Dumbledore had been leaning on.  
  
From Behind The Veil: Chapter 3, scene 1.  
  
AN opinion: Was that not funny? Tell me! I mean, I'm schocked! 4 reviews for one chapter! Geez...  
  
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" And so the blood oath is completed." Was the last thing Harry heard before the scene changed. The atmosphere was different. It was one of happiness. Of course. The wedding. People were laughing and music was being played in the background. Sirius and James were by the cake, poking it. Lily was chatting with a friend right next to them, looking at James and Sirius warningly. This tactic worked for a bout five minutes. Death glares were obviously not about stop them from nicking some cake. Lily seemed to to know what was going on, because she was no longer looking at the three guys. She was looking straight ahead at her friend.   
  
So far Sirius had been the only one to risk it, but James gladly decided to join in. He shot a wary glance at Lily and slowly inched his hand forward and then it shot forward faster than lightning. He took a bit of frosting and began to pull his hand away as quickly as possible. James's reflexes were excellent, but apparently, so were Lily's. Before his hand was even two inches from the cake, Lily's hand made contact with his wrist. Harry suspected she would have gotten him sooner, but she probably hadn't wanted to risk messing up the cake.  
  
" Caught in the act." Remus whispered to Sirius with a grin. Sirius nodded happily. Lily gave James a sharp look. Shen then gave his hand a very hard, and what must have been painful, squeeze and resumed her conversation. James scowled and glared at the other two.   
  
" So where's Peter?" James asked curiously.  
  
****" In the bathroom hiding from Deanna Navarro." Sirius answered. James laughed.   
  
" So she moved on. I can't believe she skipped you and Remus and went after Peter." Sirius shrugged nervously. Remus also looked uncomfortable and his cheecks were lightly flushed.  
  
" Yeah," Sirius began a little nervously. " Wonder how he'll get rid of her. So, uh... where did you pick to go for the honeymoon?****  
  
Lupin turned to Harry incredulously and muttered something that sounded like 'Sirius too?'. He was almost afrid to ask. Keyword being almost.  
  
" Sirius too? What does that mean?" Lupin closed his mouth, which had been hanging wide open. Harry felt like snickering.  
  
" No... nothing... it just seems Sirius was hiding a few things..."****  
  
By this time Sirius, James, and Remus were talking about quidditch.   
  
" Come on, Remus! You can't be serious! What about Bagman? England's bound to win! Ireland doesn't stand a chance!" Sirius was saying. James looked doubtful.  
  
" You have to admit, they've been doing loads better lately." he admitted. Sirius looked astonished.   
  
" I think I smell a good opportunity for a bet." Remus said to Sirius with an amused look on his face. Sirius nodded.  
  
" 50 galleons." James shot Sirius a dark look.  
  
" If you can bet 50 galleons on a game, why couldn't you afford to help with a few costs when you were living with us?" Sirius grinned.  
  
" The situation has changed, Prongs." he answered with a shrug. James rolled his eyes.  
  
" Whatever. Party ends in 10 minutes. Our portkey activates in 30. Is everything ready?" he asked in a mysterious tone. The others nodded. James grinned. "Okay, then let's start it!" Remus looked doubtful.  
  
" Lily will skin you alive." Sirius nodded.   
  
" We know, Moony. That's what makes it so much fun. She'll blame James and not us." James raised an eyebrow in a slightly malicious looking way. He took out his wand and pointed it at 4 ducks that were floating around a small pond. Sirius grinned and did the same. Remus, his troublemaking tendencies winning over common sense, followed suit. Harry saw James give Wormtail, who was across about 10 yards away, a thumbs up. Now all four were pointing their wands at the swans. They mutted something and nothing happened for a minute. Suddenly, one of the ducks opened its beak... and broke into song. The voice reminded Harry of 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'.  
  
" Oh what an event this is!" one of them sang. A second one joined in.  
  
" A night full of happinnes and bliss." Everyone was staring at the ducks, horrified. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were sitting there in utter shock and horror. A third duck joined in.  
  
" Lily and James marry today!" Harry looked around. Some of the people were his mothers muggle relatives. The obviously knew Lily's secret, but they looked amazed nonetheless. A fourth one joined in.  
  
" A word of warning to James, if I may-" it sang. The first one opened its mouth again. Oh, lord, they were going in order...  
  
" You chose to get hitched, and they'll be a price to pay."  
  
" Keep her healthy and well fed-"  
  
" And happy in bed-"  
  
" And if you feel like going out with the guys..."  
  
"...come up with a few good lies."  
  
" When she's upset, pretend you know why-"  
  
" And follow our #1 rule: Always have a good alibi!"  
  
James took his wand and shot fireworks into the air.  
  
'Courtesy of the Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.'   
  
Everyone laughed. Several people were already going over to the 4 guys (Peter had joined them), and congratulating them on a prank well done. Lily looked at James sweetly.  
  
" James?" James grinned at her lovingly.  
  
" What is it, hun?"   
  
" Run!"  
  
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**** text in here refers to the the spin off stuff. ^_^ **** : Sorry, shameless plug for the spinoff, The Lessons I've Learned. ^_^ Will make more sense if you read it, and hopefully review. And for those of you who have read it: Yes, Lupin too. ^_^ But who's to say how HE dealed with it?  
  
Anyway, not much to say. Did you guys like the whole duck thing? I wasn't sure how to write a wizard wedding or anything, so I just followed my instinct and went with what came into mind. ^_^ Remember Marauder Mayhem, the guild dedicated to the Marauders at  
  
http://www.neopets.com/guilds/guild.phtml?oid=sailor_melody  
  
Okay, that's it. Don't forget to review and check out 'From Behind the Veil' and the spin-off, ' The lessons I've learned'. 


	12. Baby Harry is Born: Last Chapter

Dwelling In The Past  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
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Disclaimer: Why should I even bother?  
  
AN: Okay. Reason this took so long. ff.net has that new SSL login thing, and I couldn't log in. My computer had some settings messed up, so it wouldn't let me in. Since I knew I couldn't login, I saw no need to write this chapter quite yet. And now, through my own brilliance, I fixed my computer and can now login. Sooooooooo, here I go.  
  
Other Info: This is the last promised memory. Yep. That's right. Last chapter. I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, for being supportive, and for joining the guild Marauder Mayhem under the username sailor_melody at neopets.com *hint hint* And yes, thank you for all the comments on the ducks (who everyone seemed to love!) And yes, I did write the song myself. ^_^  
  
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Quote of the Chapter ^_^   
  
AN:Done by my wonderful Beta who everyone should thank. In fact, if you don't thank her in your review, you won't get a nice long epilogue! Kidding! But really, do thank her. ^_^  
  
A week after Fred and George's departure, Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out of the corner of her mouth, "It unscrews the other way."  
  
Beta-Comment – (Hi everyone)…After reading OotP and especially this quote, I have realized that McGonagall is by far the coolest teacher ever... maybe she can teach my math class or something…  
  
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" At his own wedding?" Harry asked Lupin incredulously as the scene shifted and they found themselves in a hospital waiting room.   
  
" Well, James never really liked formal occasions. The real challenge was getting away with it without Lily hurting us too much. Let me tell you, I still have a few scars from the beating she gave us."  
  
  
  
This answer took Harry by surprise. Lupin had never really been that open with him.   
  
  
  
" My god, Sirius! You're worse than James!" Remus was hissing at Sirius. Sirius stopped pacing. " I'm sure everything will go fine. It hasn't been a difficult pregnancy or anything. Everything will be fine." Remus reassured him. Sirius shook his head.  
  
" I'm not worried about that. It's just that it's never safe for us to be out in public this long. She's been in there for three hours. What the hell is James thinking in letting her give birth in a muggle hospital? Voldemort could just blast in here and kill us all. And where is James? Getting some tea, that's where! What if Death Eaters attack? Then he'll be sorry when he finds us all dead! He's trading us all for a cup of tea and a scone!" Sirius was ranting now. Remus glared at him.  
  
" Shut up, you prat. That's not going to happen. And you're scaring Peter." Remus scolded. Sirius turned to Peter, whose face was almost blending in with the white walls. Sirius grinned sheepishly.  
  
  
  
" Sorry, Wormtail. Got a little carried away. I guess I have been a tad paranoid lately."  
  
  
  
" A tad?" James asked with a raised eyebrow as he came in. Sirius frowned at him.  
  
" I hope you enjoyed your tea! I hope it was worth the death of your friends!"  
  
  
  
" Actually, it was. But I don't think any of my friends are dead... yet." James put an emphasis on the last word and looked at Sirius warningly. Sirius backed off. Two minutes passed in silence before James and Sirius began pacing... again. Five minutes passed before the nurse came out. She looked exhausted.  
  
" Sorry that took so long. There were some rather odd events... The lights must have been faulty...they... well…they kept making the doctor's hair change colors. There must be somethig wrong with the plumbing too, the water seemed to taste like... uh... Sprite. Odd... it's just... you know, old buildings..." the nurse shook her head, bewildered. "Anyway, we're moving her to the maternity wing now."  
  
As the nurse finished speaking, the door opened once more and another nurse came out holding baby Harry wrapped up in a few blankets. James went over to his son and tried to take him from the nurse.  
  
  
  
" Sir! We need to get him cleaned up and feed him. You can't take him yet."  
  
" But..."  
  
" James, let them take him. You couldn't keep a plant alive if your life depended on it." James whirled around to see two nurses pushing a stretcher with Lily on it out of the room.  
  
  
  
" Lord, not even something like this dulls that brilliant wit of yours" Sirius said with a raised eyebrow. Lily glared at him, but she was very tired.  
  
  
  
" If you'll excuse us." one of the nurses said, and without waiting for a reply, they rolled Lily away and caught an elevator up.  
  
  
  
" They were pranking while my mom was giving birth?" Harry asked Lupin as they followed the Marauders upstairs. Lupin looked amused.  
  
  
  
" Uh... no Harry, that was you. Sometimes wizard babies... ah... 'show off' their power when they're born." Harry frowned. So young and he'd already begun to show off. Lupin seemed to read his mind. " That's not what I meant, Harry. Most wizard babies do."   
  
  
  
But even his words seemed doubtful, and Harry was pretty sure he was lying and had probably never heard of such a thing before.  
  
  
  
They finally reached the right floor and found the right room... after 4 tries, mind you.  
  
" You know, I thought that lady was going to kick me when I walked into her room just now," Peter was saying. James laughed.  
  
" I think she was about to.!" They all walked towards the bed where Lily was lying down with baby Harry.  
  
  
  
" Hey, love. Thought you'd lost your way and just gone home." Lily spoke to James with a smile. James smiled back and took the baby.  
  
  
  
" Did you hear what mayhem he cause down there?" Lily asked them. The others grinned and nodded.  
  
  
  
" This one is going to be a powerful one, mark my words." James answered, beaming with pride. Sirius nodded.  
  
  
  
" Another powerful wizard. What else would he be with you two as parents?" Lily and James smiled. Peter looked thoughtful.  
  
  
  
" I... uh... I'm tired, you know... I think I'll be leaving now." The others nodded, but didn't even look at him. No one objected to his leaving. A dark shadow passed over Peter's face and his eyes narrowed. Then he seemed to shake it off and walked out the door without a word.  
  
  
  
" Was he already working for Voldemort?" Harry asked, his voice almost a whisper.  
  
  
  
" I don't think so... not yet, anyway. I might be wrong, but it seems to me like he was just thinking about it by now. Gathering information that would be useful in proving that he really wanted to be loyal to Voldemort."  
  
  
  
The colors shifted and Hary felt himself being pulled up. Before he could protest, he was back in his room with Lupin behind him. It was over.  
  
" I don't really know if that helped, Harry. I mean.... well... Happy Birthday." And without another word, he walked out the door.  
  
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AN: Wow. Hope that wasn't too corny. Well, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I mean, I meant to make it long, but it didn't really work out the way I wanted it to. I MIGHT write a new memory. Keyword being 'might' I started this a little while ago, but it feels like it's been ages... Well, I hope you enjoyed the story. I enjoyed writing it. I don't think I'll be starting anything new. If you want to read more of my work and you like humor, check out 'From Behind The Veil'. I think that may turn into a parody of Harry's 6th year...   
  
  
  
Anyway, please review. If you haven't reviewed any other chapters, at least review this one as it is probably the last one, 'k? Lots of love to everyone, thanks for being so supportive, thanks for joining the guild (feel free to go discuss your thoughts on the guild message board. I always check it) And last but not least, thank Dee, my beta for the last 4 chapters. She's been great and picked up on the smallest mistakes just to save you from my typos and sometimes bad choice of words. Make sure to thank her too, because she's been a huge help.  
  
PS. There WILL be an epilogue, as the last part is kind of... unconclusive. So, keep checking. ^_^ 


	13. Epilogue: Moving on

Dwelling ON The Past  
  
By: Sailoranime  
  
Harry Potter does not belong to me. Happy, JK? *hides from lawsuit-happy writer*  
  
Wow. Okay. This is the epilogue. The end. Like, Dwelling go bye-bye. Um. You know, this story has probably been my best. Except for my parody, maybe. I'm very attached to that. ^_^ But they're both the best in different categories. Well, I'll leave the big author notes till the end. And yes, I realize Lupin's behavior was... odd. But I have a reason, I assure you.  
  
Moving on - Epilogue  
  
Harry watched as Lupin walked out the door. The Penesieve was still standing there on the bedside table. Harry looked at his watch. It had been at least four hours since Lupin had come into his room and now the whole thing was over. He had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd learned so much about his parents and Sirius in such a short period of time that he now felt their loss more deeply than ever. What a depressing birthday present.  
  
But that wasn't right. He'd been happy while he'd been in the Penesieve. Was there some sort of rule against living in a Penesieve? The prospect was quite appealing, but it was probably impossible. With a sigh, Harry threw his book into his trunk and walked out of the room. He made his way down the stairs in an odd mood. He was halfway down when he began heard whispering. Everyone had been treating him like an invalid since he'd arrived, so he wasn't particularly looking forward to an encounter of any type, especially after what he'd seen. He could almost hear what they were saying.  
  
" Done... coming down."  
  
" George.... never... grow...!"  
  
" Poor... how... take it?"  
  
" ...Ready!... Almost... hear... here!"  
  
The whispering stopped. Harry frowned and was about to turn back when Hermione appeared at the foot of the stairs.  
  
" Harry. You feeling better?" Harry just nodded. She bit her lip slightly. " So... uh... Happy birthday." she tried to smile brightly, but he could see the hesitation in her eyes. He had no idea what he was supposed to say. In an attempt to reassure her he gave her a small smile.  
  
" Thanks." The expression of relief on her face was amazing, and he suddenly felt guilty for wallowing in his sorrow for so long. But then again, he always felt guilty about something. She gave him a genuine smile and ran up the stairs to him. She took hold of his hand and practically dragged him down the stairs and into the kitchen.  
  
" Surprise!" Harry whipped out his wand instantly went into battle mode. The lights in the kitchen went on. There was a moment of silence, and then everyone burst out laughing as the bewildered and slightly embarrassed Harry put his wand away. Moody gave a snort of what might have been laughter.  
  
" And they think that I'm paranoid!" Everyone laughed. Molly Weasley enveloped Harry in a hug.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Harry." Ron was right behind her. He shook Harry's hand and smiled at him.  
  
" Lupin told us about the Penesieve. Mum threatened to have our heads if we went up there. Might want to be careful. Fred and George have been talking about cornering you later. Mum had to watch them the whole time to make sure they didn't run off and jump in there too."  
  
" They almost pounced on Prof.... Lupin when he came downstairs to tell us. Mrs. Weasley stopped them when she saw the expression on Lupin's face. Did everything go okay? Both of you looked so sad." Hermione asked worriedly. Harry nodded.  
  
" It's just hard to not dwell on the past. I have to go talk to him, you guys. And I really want to catch him before everyone starts eating."   
  
Ron and Hermione nodded and Harry walked towards Lupin, who was talking to Mundgnus Fletcher. Fletcher's gaze went from Harry to Lupin and then back to Harry again and excused himself. Harry stood still for a second before speaking.  
  
" Pro... er... sir... Re..." he shook his head in frustration. " I wanted to thank you. For the... you know. And I know it was probably hard, and I really appreciated it..." Harry remembered Sirius's letter. Should he? Did he dare? Throwing caution to the wind, he went on. " And it really meant a lot to me... Uncle Moony."   
  
Harry almost smacked himself when he saw Lupin's reaction. He was deeply affected by that nickname, but Harry was unsure if it was in a good way or not. He finally recovered and nodded, giving Harry a small and somewhat shocked, smile.  
  
"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go empty the Penesieve." Harry gave a small nod of understanding and Lupin disappeared.  
  
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The party, though fun, had been exhausting. The Weasley twins had cornered him, and then Lupin. Harry felt sorry for Remus. In the end he'd retired to his room, but Harry wasn't sure if he'd succumbed to the twins. Harry also left the party early. He arrived at his room and noticed Lupin hadn't taken the Penesieve with him nor had he emptied it. It took Harry a second to realize what Lupin had done. Smiling in anticipation, he took his wand out and then prodded the silvery substance and without any hesitation, he entered it again.  
  
To be continued....  
  
AN: Am I really that mean? Nah!  
  
The colors swriled and Harry found himself in a strange room, probably the house in Godric's Hollow. His younger self, about 11 months old, was sitting on the floor with James, Sirius, and Remus.   
  
" So Peter's been spending a lot of time here, James. What's up with that?" Sirius asked in a forced nonchalant tone, but Harry saw him glance at Lupin out of the corner of his eyes in an almost suspicious manner. James shrugged.  
  
" I don't know. Lily almost kicked him out yesterday because Harry was being fussy. He kept crying whenever Wormtail got near him, and it was driving us nuts. Lily made a few subtle suggestions that he leave, and he actually picked them up, for once. Now that we're on the subject of irregular behavior, where have you been, Moony? You don't come by much anymore."  
  
Sirius looked Remus, waiting for the answer. Remus, however, seemed completely unaware of Sirius's odd behavior. Remus shrugged. " I've been a little busy."  
  
James nodded in understanding. "You should see how great this kid is. He painted the house blue yesterday when Lily tried to put a pink outfit on him."  
  
" It was light red, James!" Lily's voice was heard from somewhere. Sirius, James, and Remus laughed. James then stopped and gave Sirius a stern look.  
  
" And I finally got him to stop calling you his dad." James said as Sirius grinned.  
  
" Aw James, it took me forever to train him to do that!" James glared at him and took a cushion from the couch, smacking Sirius over the head with it.  
  
" Well, don't do it again. We don't want to confuse the kid. Watch." James took baby Harry and stood him up in between the three of them. He grinned and turned the baby to face him.  
  
" Okay, Harry. Who am I?" He grinned as Harry threw himself at him, screaming 'daddy' between a fit of giggles. James stood him back up.   
  
" Okay. Who is he?" James asked, pointing at Lupin. Remus looked skeptical.  
  
" He's only eleven mon-" before he could finish his comment, Harry threw himself at him.  
  
" Aco Mooey!"  
  
Sirius frowned. " Aco Mooey? What the hell does that mean?" Lupin smacked him.   
  
" It's Uncle Moony. He can't pronounce it yet, you prat." Sirius raised an eyebrow, but did not comment on Lupin's over-protectiveness of his new nickname. James rolled his eyes and stood Harry up again.  
  
" Okay, son. Who is that one?" he asked, pointing at Sirius. Harry cocked his head to the side in thought. Then after a few seconds his face lit up.   
  
" Daddy!" Sirius laughed and caught Harry as the little boy threw himself at him to hug him. James looked very indignant. Sirius stood up, sensing trouble. He then handed baby Harry to Lupin, who was also standing by now. Little Harry's cry of " Aco Mooey!" was barely heard over James's yells of " Run if you value your life, Padfoot, run like hell."  
  
And Harry smiled.  
  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Okay, now I'm done. Wow. Aren't I nice? A memory in the epilogue! Sorry about the whole 'Uncle Moony' thing. I had to squeeze it in because of what Sirius says in the letter. I know it was pretty corny, but what can you do? Maybe I should stick to comedy. Well, this story is officially done. Well, not really. Next week, hopefully, I'll be able to got through ALL my reviews and thank the people who reviewed and address any questions that weren't answered in the story. My Beta would like to say thank you to everyone who thanked her. She sent me a nice list of all the people, which I'll stick in here later when I go online. Hm. No quote of the chapter. Can I get away with that because this wasn't a chapter, but an epilogue? No? Damn.   
  
Did anyone panic when I did that thing up there about cutting the story off right there? I almost felt like doing it, but then I figured people would ask me to put in that memory, and then I'd give in, and then this wouldn't be an epilogue. So I put in the memory. Why did this take so long? Well, I can't say I'm swamped with school work or anything. In fact, I'm not. Well, it happened something like this.   
  
I wanted to have this out ASAP. So I gave myself the deadline of two days. This was to be posted the Wednesday after the last chapter. Did it happen? Well, I did finish by Wednesday. The next Wednesday, mind you. So that's the story there. Yep. No alien abductions, no accidents, and no writers' block. Just laziness. I did, however, work on the 4th chapter of 'From behind the Veil'. I had to rewrite it because I forgot a certain character was supposed to be dead and gave her a part in something that happened. So... I had to start over again. I have a lousy memory.  
  
Back to the no 'quote of the chapter' thing... I don't have my books, and I can't think of anything, so I'm going to be lazy and just put in the best quotes from this story. Sound good?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quotes of the Epilogue!  
  
****  
  
"Remus likes dogs, being with friends, walks by the beach, and cartoon episodes where someone destroys the moon. He keeps his firewhiskey under the sink where all the cleaning supplies are, but be sure not to take it for at least a week after the full moon. And make sure you replace it at least a week before it. And he will give in quickly when you're asking for something if you give him the puppy dog eyes and call him 'uncle Moony'."  
  
-Sirius's letter, Chapter one.  
  
****  
  
" Well, hello. I'm James. James Potter. Sirius, here, is a little nuts. Best way to see if he's lying is to check for that little malicious glint in his eye. See? Like the one he has now. He's just not right."  
  
" I resent that!"  
  
-Young Sirius and James, chapter one.  
  
****  
  
As the prefect had been talking, Sirius had been mouthing the words with a comically stern expression on his face while James grinned at him and Peter gave a small clap. Little Lupin looked like he had half a mind to say something to put them in his place, but he was obviously amused.  
  
" Shall we go up to our dormitories?" Sirius asked in a very exaggerated haughty voice. James looked at him gravely and answered in the same tone of voice.  
  
" I suppose that is in order." They grinned at each other and began marching up the stairs.  
  
-Young Sirius and James, chapter two.  
  
****  
  
" We won't bother you," Little Lupin began, but James cut him off.  
  
" Won't make a sound..."  
  
"... Almost as if we weren't here!" Sirius added.  
  
-Lupin, Sirius, and James, chapter 2  
  
****  
  
" I suppose it's safe to assume you 4 had something to do with it?" he asked sternly. Sirius was the first one to stop laughing, so he answered the question himself.  
  
" No... Professor... not really... you see, everyone gets what they deserve, usually. That boy... Snape? Isn't that what you called him... he deserved it... everything you do comes back to you... so it's not really our fault... karma was just using us as a way to punish him. Therefore, we are not responsible for our actions. Karma is."  
  
The teacher raised an eyebrow.  
  
" If you were just the medium karma used to get even with Snape, and you got caught, wouldn't you have gotten what you deserved by getting caught?" Remus nodded sagely.  
  
" All right then. I'll accept that explanation, but you still get one detention each." he was about to turn around when James' hand shot up.  
  
" I'm afraid that punishment is uncalled for," he began, his eye twinkling with mischief, " We were not responsible for our actions. We established that and you accepted it. And even if we had something coming to us, we already got caught doing something we were not responsible for, so we got whatever we deserved. Therefore, any additional punishment would be unfair." he grinned at the teacher who just stood there, obviously confused.  
  
-Lupin, Sirius, James, and teacher, chapter 3  
  
****  
  
" A werewolf! Imagine all the fun we could have had! We've wasted a year! A whole year!"  
  
" Sirius," now it was little Lupin's turn to be exasperated, " I can't be around humans when I'm a werewolf!" Sirius's face fell.  
  
" Oh, yeah. The biting thing." he frowned again.   
  
-Sirius and Lupin, Chapter 3  
  
****  
  
" Don't call me that." Lupin answered, a faint frown line appearing in his forehead.  
  
" But I think it's cute..." Sirius said, giving him a malevolent look.  
  
" Cute? I'll give you cute... next full moon I'll go look for you and bite you. Then we'll see how cute you think I am."  
  
-Sirius and Lupin, Chapter 4  
  
****  
  
" She's the one you accidentally hexed in DADA once, Sirius." Peter answered.  
  
" Guess that makes me self absorbed too, I don't even remember apologizing to the poor girl."  
  
" That's because you didn't. You made her robes burst into flames and complained because you got detention."   
  
-Peter, Sirius, Remus, Chapter 5  
  
****  
  
" Actually, now that I think about it," Sirius continued, " any kid you two have together deserves to be on a chocolate frog card."  
  
" We're NOT having any kids together."  
  
" Yeah, didn't she just tell you something like that a few minutes ago? Really, James, you're slow."  
  
-Sirius and James, Chapter 5  
  
****  
  
" Your swish is too much like your flick. I can't tell them apart." Sirius pointed out when a piece of parchment on the floor turned into a squirrel and bit an unfortunate Peter, who had been standing closest to it. Remus frowned.  
  
" My aim was just a little off... There's nothing wrong with my swish." he responded icily.   
  
-Sirius and Remus, Chapter 7  
  
****  
  
Sirius looked around tensely for a minute before quietly getting up and attempting to leave without being noticed. Remus, obviously aware of what Sirius was attempting and still bitter about the slight on his wand movements, loudly asked where Sirius was going.  
  
- Chapter 7  
  
****  
  
" Remember what Evans said?" he asked Remus. Remus shook his head.   
  
" Sorry, but I don't hang on to her every word like you." James glared at him, but he still had a preoccupied expression on his face.  
  
" She said she had something to do.... That's the same thing Sirius said!" James looked around the common room. " Evans isn't here..." Remus's eyes widened slightly and he looked like he was going to laugh.  
  
" Sirius and Evans? Come off it, Potter! Sirius would never go for a girl someone else was interes..." he trailed off, and Harry saw the doubts forming in his head. " I mean.... especially if it was a girl you were interested in.... Especially Lily..." but that was not very comforting to his father, owing to the fact that Remus now looked as doubtful as James.  
  
-James and Lupin, chapter 7  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Okay, I'm tired. And that's enough quotes. Thank you for all the support. All the reviews, and all the nagging e-mails. ^_^ Well, here are my beta's comments!  
  
************************************  
  
Hey everyone! This is Dee (the beta-person). Thanks for all of your kind responses. Sailoranime said that I could respond (thnx!) and I'm gonna do just that…  
  
jo0609  
  
violet-angel07  
  
Star19 - Thanks, that's really sweet of you! ^_^   
  
SB for Me – no problem!  
  
Athelas aka Pammy – she is exactly like Mrs. Smith…she's nice, but has a somewhat…um…well evil temper…I guess…o yea…glad you liked it  
  
Rathien1 - Here's your epilogue!  
  
oneiros lykos - No problem  
  
************************************  
  
Wow. Well, until I post my list of reviewers, goodbye. 


	14. Thanks and Spinoff

I'm so honored! ^_^ 

**_Dwelling on the Past: Thanks you's and answers_**

~ 

By: Sailoranime 

~ 

~ 

Okay, first of all, I want to thank everyone, but this story has waaay too many reviews to just do it all at a time. If you reviewed and you're not on here, DON'T WORRY. These are only the first 8 pages of reviews. I'm still working on the rest. First of all, I'd like to thank these people: 

**AnGeL*Of*MiNe,** Madison Black, **Kady Rilla Wholi, **aniangel, **Fanyar,** chila, **KaterPotater**, nic15, **Midnight Dove, **just me don't worry I don't do flames, **Somewei**, George is hot-MrsMoony, **Bella Black, **Rogue Shadow Lurker,** Padfoot232, **SweetenedSugar, **digimon-lover, **Starbaby, **Kari, **Spanky, **Sami Potter, **Annala, **FireFaerie1, **tv-fan-06, **No1, **Courtknee, **Wicca Chick, **Charliepotter, **Manny, **Phoenixflames1, **Lucila, **Jenstarz, **anelprongs, **Flamingo813, **SiriusLvr, **Midnight Dove, **Mornel, ** This Parrot has ceased to be, and **buffybabe013**. 

These are people who reviewed and for the most part just told me they liked the story and that I should continue. Plese keep in mind that the people whose names are in bold print _aren't_ more important than the others. I only did it that way to make it easier to find names. ^_^ 

I'm taking a 'break' from fanfiction and my computer in general, but I'm still around. (Kinda) I can be found on neopets.com under 'sailor_melody'. That's also where my Marauder guild is. *wink wink, hint hint* *cough* join *cough* ^_^ So anyway, Sorry if my replies to these reviews aren't very long or informative. 

**NewSecretRose**   
Original Review: **Excellent. You are a wonderful writer. I like how you put in a letter from Sirius, making it sad and humorous at the smae time. Good work. One little problem, though. YOU NEED TO WRITE MORE!! How can you leave people hanging?? The story is so good! Also, I liked how the chapter was nice and long, instead of short.**   
Response: Aw... I am? How nice of you. ^_^ I orginally thought the letter might be a little too... uh... corny? I guess I thought it was a little too much, but I'm a sucker for mush. ^_^` Anyway, I think the 'keeping chapters long' thing just went down the drain by the end of the story, but what can you do? I suck with length and stuff. 

**Luna Lovegood2**   
Original Review: **AW i cried when i read Sirius's letter. update soon!**   
Response: You cried? I'm sorry. I know even _I_ did some crying when I read sad 'tributes' to Padfoot and stuff. Thanks for the review. ^_^ 

**Evil Lady**   
Original Review: **AAww geez, you made me cry with Sirius's letter! Great story, I love the pensieve thing, really original. It was written very well, too. Can't wait to see what's next! **   
Response: You cried too? I'm sorry. Hm. I have to admit, there are a lot more pensieve stories now. I hadn't seen one when I came up with this, but I saw one the night I posted it. I wish I could think this story had something to do with it. 

**hermionita**   
Original Review(s): **Congratulations! Your story is really great and cool. It is a very clever and original idea. Keep going! Sirius' letter to Harry was really touching and I thik that's how he would talk to Harry, you made it really believable. Please post soon! I'm dying to see what happens next. Bye   
~and~   
Hi, these chapter is really interesting as we meet new sides of sirius and james I like these friendly image that you give James so that Harry doesn't keep that dusguisting perception of him from just Snapes' POV. Congratulations and Keep going. You're terrific bye**   
Response: Yeah, I agree. Harry really needs a better perception of his parents. I really think Sirius _would_ talk to Harry like that. Thanks for the review. ^_^ 

**Amanda Mandy2887**   
Original Review(s): **Please continue and get the next chapter out soon. I would love to read more. You almost got me crying during the letter. Which is a feet in itself. But great work. Please continue. If you get flames dont listen to them. Many people take them to heart when i just think they are jealous that they cant write that good. Well good work. Email's up top if ya wanna email me**   
Response: Well, I didn't get any flames for this, thank god, but thanks for the reassurance. ^_^ I don't write flames either, so I'm not familiar with the point of them, anyhow. I made another person cry? Wow, that feels weird. Maybe I _will_ e-mail you one of these days. 

**No Comment **   
Original Review(s): **This is a great idea! Plus, two Remus' is always good! Please update soon! :D**   
Response: I agree. I seem to have become more of a Remus fan since Sirius died. 

**Heart Soul **   
Original Review(s): **This is totally priceless. I just simply love it. The letter was a stroke of brilliance. It made me cry, and that is quite hard to do. This whole thing is rather touching at the moment and it's rather well written except for you used the wrong word at the bottom - should be their instead of they're. But this is a really wonderful idea. This fic is going on my favorite's list. **   
Response: Oh, I guess I did use the wrong word. Well, everyone makes mistakes. I remember I kept typing 'Petter' instead of Peter. Odd, isn't it? Aw... favorite's list? Thanks! ^_^ 

**Clovobi**   
Original Review(s): **O!! Very interesting! I like the letter that Sirius wrote...very sad, yet was quite in character. This looks like its going to be an awesome story! Clover;)**   
Response: I worked really hard on that letter, so thanks. ^_^ So _was_ it an awesome story? 

**JK Anderson**   
Original Review(s): **YAY! I think it's absolutely fascinating to see how everyone is using the Pensieve to do this and the things that they chose to show. I must say, I'm rather amused. Keep going -- I'm just itching to know what those ants are for ... (literally... itch, itch, itch) ~ JKA ~ Oh, and PS -- Uncle Moony? LOL! Of course, I can't tell if Sirius is just being funny or trying to get Lupin a girl ... ;-)**   
Response:Ah... it makes me wish I had used the ants. I didn't foget, but the tripping hex seemed like a better idea than what I had originally planned. Thanks for reviewing! And as for the Pensieve thing... Well, I wrote this shortly after OotP, even though it was posted in July. So I actually _was_ one of the first people who used it. 

**ginnygal189**   
Original Review(s): **lol i love this story! that letter was so sad..but yet funny with sirius's humor...lol update soon! **   
Response: Yeah... it seems like something Sirius would do, right? Make jokes at the worst times... Well, thanks for the reassurance. 

**wolfarine**   
Original Review(s): **Oh I love it! This has got to be the best HP fanfic out there! UPDATE SOON OR MY DJINNI (elemntal spirt) WILL DESTROY ALL OF FF.NET MWHAHA!! Just kidding You would make Mrs. Rowling proud,seeing as you've captured the essence of her writing!   
-Wolfarine Garoh(the WereWolf of Fanfiction.net)   
PS: LOVE THE LUPIN AS GUARDIAN THING! **   
Response: Aw... I love this review! I suppose I did I good job, since ff.net is still standing. Unfortunately (or is it actually fortunately?) this isn't the best story out there. I love it when people tell me that I have managed to kinda re-create JK's style. It's really a conpliment for fanfiction authors to be told that their work is kinda like the real thing. Thanks for leaving such a kind review! ^_^ 

**Squirrel Maiden of Green**   
Original Review(s): **I like I like I like! I adore fics of the MWPP variety, and this is even better! You have to add another chapter. You simply have to. This fic has made me laugh and tear up in one chapter. That's the mark of a good story. And you CAN'T just leave all of your faithful readers hanging there! Please update? *makes puppy eyes***   
Response: Aw... one of my favorite readers. I'd love to answer all your reviews here, but it would really mess up my order, so I'll have to do them with the second part. Glad to know that you supported me since the beginning! : ) 

** Dragonessa Smith**   
Original Review(s): **OMG, that letter made me cry...you now hold a very prestigious title along with one other story...can't wait until you update ^_^   
~and~   
I believe poor Snape's nose is the most abused body part in the Harry Potter series...close second: Harry's forehead. Anyway...another two LOVELY chapters...I can so imagine them reacting to Remus like that...loved the karma bit, and the part where the think he's got a werewolf reletive ^__^ more please! **   
Response: This is like the 4th time I ask this. _What other story are you talking about?_ Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way. Yeah, Snape's nose is abused a lot, isn' it? Does hair count as a body part? 'Cause The Weasley's red hair is abused a lot too. Well, thanks for reviewing! 

**go jill**   
Original Review(s): **Awesome. I'm tearing up already, I miss Mr. Black! And no matter what parody writers say, the "I'm Sirius" jokes NEVER get less funny. I spewed goldfish all over my screen. I can't wait for more.**   
Response: Heh... godlfish. Yeah, I don't mind the sirius/serious puns. It's just when they stick too many in a story. Don't worry, we all miss our Sirius... : ( 

**maya selene**   
Original Review(s): **WOW! *jumps up and down* you know what? that was really good, best fic i've read in ages. it sound slike a real book, u know that right?? u've got a natural talent. write the next part soon or i may have to kill u!**   
Response: My first Death threat! Ah, gotta love them! I'm glad you liked it so much. Did it really sound like the real book? Well, thank you! Now I just need to find out what this natural talent is for. ^_~ 

**Polkat**   
Original Review(s): **oh my god, how many reviews do you have?! i mean you deserve them but jesus... 47 after a day?! anyway just to be special wonderful story!! loved it loads :) last chapter of sirius' letter was especially brilliant. cartoon episodes where someone destroys the moon = a stroke of genius. there are some places where weird spacing makes it hard to figure out what's happening but otherwise its great :)   
~and~   
good idea with the email thingy, made me feel quite special until i actually read it ;) ah well. maybe you could establish some kind of code like remus is little lupin and lupin is older lupin coz, i don't know what it is but "little lupin" kinda lowers the emotional level some what. some places where you use the same word twice in one sentence but it really doesn't matter. v much enjoying it and i'm sure harry is too. i'd offer to be a beta reader but i'm sure you're bowled over with responces. if not, i'm totally up for it. i love your story. **   
Response:Yeah... I did get a beta reader at some point, but the responses were really not that overwhelming at all. Weird spacing? I should check that out. Thanks for the tip on not calling Lupin 'little Lupin'. I guess it kinda makes sense. I was more surprised than you were with the number of reviews. This story was like a fluke. A very big one. Thanks for being such a good reader. : ) 

**Amananduniel Black**   
Original Review(s): **that was wicked! =D **   
Response: Aww... thank you. I'll have to answer the rest of your reviews in the next installement of thank yous, though. 

**Liebling**   
Original Review(s): **Oh I loved it. Gorgeous, amazing...awesome! **** _'I can trust him with my life... And you _are_ my life, Harry.'   
'Make sure not to spend all of it on booze and strippers... notice I only said not to spend_ all _of it on booze and strippers.'_   
*  
I just loved it, so v. v. Sirius-esque. It was amazing, blew me away. Thanks so much for this little ficlet :-) ~Mel   
~and   
Woah four hours? That's a very very long time. Teehee. Anyway, I love this ficcie (so cute..how do you get so many reviews? Honestly, it's amazing!) I like the character 'Davey' that you added in, that was cool :-) Adored it. Well done dahling. ~Mel **   
Response: Praise from one of my favorite authors! Frankly, I don't know how I got so many reviews I guess I just posted at a great time or something. I get a lot of compliments on the characterization of Sirius, and I'm happy to know that a fellow writer thinks so too. Four hours _is_ an awfully long time, isn't it? Well, thanks a lot for the nice comments. Btw, I love your vignettes, and I really admire that you've written like 300 or something already. You're a great writer. ^_^ 

**Mz MALfOY**   
Original Review(s): **loving it!... i knt wait til PoA comes out on the big screen... i just jope sirius n lupin are as hot as i picture them to be! =D great story! continue**   
Response:I'm kind of excitedf about PoA too. I'm slightly disappointed with Sirius, as I pictured him a little more... cute(?). But who knows, he might look better when they clean him up in GoF or something. I thought the actor they cast for Lupin was the one playing Pettigrew. They could have done a lot better with the look, but this guy might turn out to be good at the part and make it believable. 

**BlackWerewolf **   
Original Review(s): **This is an awesome fan fic. Please continue it. Also, you should put in the memory of when the marauders found out that Remus was a werewolf. It would show Harry that his father did careabout others. Keep updating! **   
Response: I put it in because of your request, actually. I hadn't really intended to, because it was too clichè, but you changed my mind. Thank you. 

**Belandra**   
Original Review(s): **That was awesome. Especially the first chapter almost made me cry. At Sirius letter I just thought, how can the stupid git make so many jokes when he is writing his last letter to Harry. But I guess that's just the way he is. He can't stand to make his friends sad. You are a really talented writer and I love the way you characterize the adult Remus. Keep up the great work and please update soon. **   
Response: Yeah, I guess it does make Sirius kind of a jerk. But he's just really bad with emotion and stuff, I think. Aw... I am? Well, you're a very talented reviewer, and please review soon. ^_~ 

**Prisoner of Luna**   
Original Review(s): **I love your story, very original. Lupin seems to know exactly how to handle harry, and you seem to know the characters a lot better than most. There is a confidence in your writing that you don't often get with people using characters that aren't their own, better yet you gave them a rich history that doesn't disrupt J.K. Rowlings portrayal of her characters. Congradulations on a job well done, and please keep writing. **   
Response: Wow, thanks. 

**Yukirei**   
Original Review(s): **lol, the idea of a minature broomstick up Snape's nose! Anyway, nice story. Do update soon. ^^ And I enjoyed the "quote of the chapter"s. Especially the first one. *laughs* Never noticed that it could mean that way. Do you have a whole list of this or something? It would be great if you could send them to me via email.   
~and~   
And I was wondering why the previous chapter was so short. Though the place where it had ended hadn't seem like it was cut off. By chance? Heh. Why not just remove it? It'll look neater. "And my grandfather's sister and your grandfather are like cousins or something..." Doesn't that make Sirius's grandfather James's grandfather's cousin as well? Go ahead with the neopets guild. Is there any guilds already dedicated to the Marauders out there? (Just wondering.) I already belong to another guild on neopets, so I wouldn't be able to join yours. But I don't mind helping out if you want. Just drop me an email. (cosmiko_ling@yahoo.com)**   
Response: Yeah... I had a list. Somewhere. I see your point with the grandparent thing. James was trying to exaggerate the connection to prove his point, so he just kinda made it longer. Like when someone gives a long speech that can basically be summed up in three or four words. Oh, wait, Sirius was the one that said that! Oh, well, the explanation's the same. ^_^ And as for the chapter's ending not being too inconclusive the first time, I tend to save when I finish a thought. I don't like saving right in the middle of it, because my train of thought de-rails. Should my computer suddenly shut off, then I would know exactly where to start next time instead of trying to remember what I intended to do. Does that make it a little clearer? Oh, and I did remove the first post already. It was getting on my nerves. ^_^ Good luck on your tests! 

**Kit Kat6**   
Original Review(s): **Good one and very in character. I liked how Peter wanred them but how it also shows that although in that incident, he was betryaing Davey for the Marauder's good, it shows how he is capable of ratting on people (pardon the pun) so it sets the scene for later on when he betrays the Potters. Very in character and imaginative. I liked Little Lupin- he seemed more sensible than the other two! Kit Kat ;-)   
~and~   
Classic! That was very entertaining- I think you have very good characterisations like the arrogance but undeniable charm of Padfoot and Prongs and I'm glad you know how to write about the range of emotions the characters feel like anger e.g. Sirius over Avery's comments about his family, to humour e.g. James and Eileen. That scene was so classic- the dialogue was great and it would be just like James to play such a mean trick. Just glad it all worked out for her. Can't wait to see them in Hogsmeade in the next chapter! Kit Kat ;-) PS- I have just written a HP fic that James is in if you want to check it out but if you don't that's okay! Please do e-mail me when you put another chapter of this up! **   
Response: Finally! Someone mentioned the Peter thing! Yeah, I was hoping someone would point that out. I'm not sure if I already checked your story out, but I'll make sure I do that tonight. Oh, and thanks for the compliments. ^_^ 

**Xx-AnGeLiC dEvIl-xX**   
Original Review(s): **Hey hey! Great story u have there!! I lolled all the way!! Sirius' letter was so sad. And it explained somethings i didnt understand perfectly. Although Sirius should have given lupin the money to him instead, cuz the poor guy's practically broke!!:( N-e-wayz, hehe I luv thier adventures!! ^__^ Typical marauder mayhem!! Although I expected Remus' reaction about the others finding out his lycanthropy a little bit more panicky... You know... he could have turned really pale and suddenly rush out of the classroom. Then the marauders make up an excuse to get out too and they try to find him or something. I mean Remus would be pretty much freaked out cuz his friends were the only thing he had and it would devastating if they leave him cz they found out what he is. Oh and also, maybe instead of writing little lupin, why not call him Remus when reffering to the one with the marauders and just Lupin when referring to the adult one. N-e-wayz, srry for the long pointless blabbering. I really like this story and i cant wait for an update! ^__^   
~and~   
Yay! New chappy! Wow, that was fast. Hehe, Lily. You go girl!! This chapter was short, hope u write more next time!! I love ur little A/Ns of parts of the book where u put ur comment. Think u can comment on how Dumbledoor came across a Vomit Flavored bean (book one) or something! ^^ N-e-wayz, plz update as soon as u can!! ^__^**   
Response: You know, I don't think I ever posted the comment on the vomit bean, but it's only because I didn't have my books for most of the time I was writing this. I wasn't really happy with his reaction to them finding out, but it was really the only thing I could think of. I figured he'd want to avoid the issue, and since they were passing notes, it might be easier to write that way. 

**loralei **   
Original Review(s): **hey i want to be notified when the next chapter is up. my email address is weeziestar@aol.com now 4 the real reason i am here. i lke this story. i cant wait to see the one when lily and james get married! this is gonna be moist... P.S- i found a quote you might like: " What is with her? "said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throw-away question. " Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks your a bit conceited, mate. " Sirius said. u dont have to use it, bt i thought i was good... OVERALL GRADE 4 ALL THE CHAPTERS IN THIS STORY: A+ **   
Response: Did I ever use your quote? I don't think I did, I'm sorry. I don't really have access to my reviews when I'm offline, so it didn't really cross my mind to check my reviews for quote ideas. Well, I finally get an A+ in _something_! 

**moony391**   
Original Review(s): **Oh, this is very good! Oh can you e-mail me your neopets user name, but at this address, discott4@juno.com. My sister already has an account on it so I had to borrow my friends e-mail. Thanks! **   
Response: Thank you. I did e-mail you, right? 

**Rosaline**   
Original Review(s): **OMG! *Laughs her ass off* This is a great story. Well done. I love the Marauders and I have been on such a MWPP kick since the 5th book. Could you pleas e-mail me when you update. Only if you have the time if not s'ok. My e-mail is alexia_black@yahoo.com. Great job with this story and I ca't wait till you update!   
~and~   
WHE ICECREAM *takes it with a huge grin* Thanks for e-mailing me about the chapter. Hehehe, your right the whole chapter was beter. Hehehehe. This was great. I can't wait for the next one!**   
Response: Heh. Glad you think so! 

**The Rogue Raven**   
Original Review(s): **AAHH! Too short! Okay... It's your chapter... You can make it as long as you want... ~*~Raven~*~ **   
Response:Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I hope you heard that it was only part of the chapter. Sorry I can't answer all your other reviews here. 

**Tara6**   
Original Review(s): **aw... too short!**   
Response:Yeah... there was a mixup with the files on my computer, sorry. The rest of the chapter was added already also. 

**smile28**   
Original Review(s): **very good story. and everything fits so well.. i don't have any complaints except the mess up with chapter 4 cause i read the first one by accident.. no big deal though. update soon! **   
Response: Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. You only had to read the bottom part of it, anyway, since everything else was the same, except for maybe a few corrections or something. 

**Senna Wales**   
Original Review(s): **Wow! I really liked this first chapter (haven't got to the other chapters yet). I always wondered why not let Harry see Lupin's memories, or Sirius' when he was still alive. But then, of course, there's the quote: "It does not do to dwell on dreams." It could be quite disastrous for Harry to spend all his time daydreaming about things that happened long ago. Either way, it's still fun and sweet to read about. I thought that the opening paragraph may have been a little rushed, but your letter was absolutely wonderful, very sad and lightly funny at the same time. If anything, it was Sirius who as rushed because he had no room left to write. ^_^ I think it would have been amusing if towards the end of the letter you made the font get smaller and smaller. That would have been an interesting touch. The only thing that concerns me is how Sirius is giving his motorcycle to Harry. I always thought that Sirius gave it to Hagrid, who probably dismantled and ripped it up piece by piece in honor of the traitorous criminal Black. Of course, it doesn't say that Hagrid did that in canon, and it is completely possible that Sirius does get his motorcycle back. Oh, by the way, I wanted to thank you for reading and reviewing my fic "The Trouble With Good Handwriting." I had another version of the story where Lily is there to watch them open the letters. Sirius frowns and shows them to James. James recognizes the writing and so Sirius isn't exactly delighted to receive "anonymous" love letters. That would probably clarify why Sirius was just as distant as James was. I wish I had more time to lengthen James and Lily's row. I wanted the fic to be a one-shot deal, and I didn't want to go into a second chapter titled "The Trouble Between Lily and James" or something like that. Plus, I wrote it in literally a couple of hours, and then uploaded it, and so it probably was a little rushed. I agree, though, it would have made more senes for the two fight for a much longer time. If I were to go back, I would have Lily confront James, botch that confrontation too, and then have an ongoing fight for a few weeks. Perhaps I will. ^_^ ~Senna P.S. I agree, Ron is SUCH a bad example and influence on those ickle first and second years. ^_^ **   
Response:Hm... I never found out if you did go back to edit that. Perhaps I'll check later. I never though of that! The thing with the font, I mean. I wonder if it would have worked, though, because ff.net changes the format for the text, I think. Too bad, because it would have been cool to do that. I think Hagrid probably destroyed the motorcucle or something, now that you mention it. It's never mentioned on OotP. It _was_ rushed? I had a little trouble with that too, but I decided to leave it like it was. I might go fix it later. 

**oneiros lykos**   
Original Review(s): **Hehe, just found the story this morning. VERY amusing! Good job! **   
Response:I'm glad you think so. I'll answer your other reviews in the second part of this 'thank you' stuff. 

**cherri * ookami**   
Original Review(s): **Ah... tough love is in the air. And it bites like a rabid rat. Okay, keep going! JA NE! ^_-* **   
Response: Ah... I'm glad you like little Lily. I gathred that's the way she would have acted from what we saw in the pensieve with Snape. 

Well, this took a long time! But I don't really mind...even if it was like 5 hours. ^_^`. I love all of your reviews, you guys! If I was more sentimental, I'd have cried after reading them all! Especially the ones you guys left at the end of the story. I swear I have to smack myself a few time to make sure I don't start a sequel or something...! I'm tempted to everytime I read those reviews or get e-mail from someone telling me I should continue. 

Well, the second part to this should be coming out shortly. I hope. I'm off of my break, so now I have to get going and start writing my other stories again. I had to do this first, though. And if anyone's reading this, I'd appreciate some input. Which of these two stories would you be more likely to read? 

**Voldemort gets Harry out of the way by promising to revive his family and Sirius. (Better summary and 'pilot' chapter posted already under the name 'Giving In')**   
_Or_   
**Five year old Harry Potter has been living with his Godfather since his parents died in a car crash when he was gone. What happens when an escaped convicted Murderer by the name of Sirius Black shows up claiming that he is Harry's real godfather? (AU)**

Both of them would include magic and death eater plots. And they would have a semi-happy ending at the very least. (I hope) any input on that would be lovely. ^_^ And now, for anyone who didn't read the spin-off, here it is. (Mostly because not everyone read it, and because of ff.net's new rule that doesn't allow author's notes!) 

~~~~~~ 

He couldn't believe he was about to do this. It was... unthinkable! But here he was, walking to his doom. Sirius gave a dramatic sigh and ran his hands through his hair. No one understood. Being the most handsome, popular, and covetted boy in the school was hard work. It was all James's fault, he reasoned, for falling for Lily. The whole female population knew about James's infatuation with the redhead, so they had left James alone and instead focused on him. Yes, he had to admit, it had its perks. But then there were also situations like these... 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. James had come out of it okay, hadn't he? Despite Sirius's constant teasing remarks and snide comments, he'd managed the situation with dignity and he had put an end to it eventually. But perhaps this doesn't make sense to you. You see, the reason behind our loveable marauder's bad mood is a girl. Not a girl he fancied. Not a girl who was a friend. A girl that was stalking him. Yep. Sirius Black was being stalked. Stalked by the same girl who had stalked James last year. Sirius hoped she'd move her attentions to Peter next year, the poor sap needed a girlfriend. Someone to keep him occupied and change his beliefs on where babies came from. 

However, all his prayers seemed to go unanswered, and Deanna Navarro was still stalking him. There WAS a simple solution to the problem, but Sirius would never sink that low. He would never ask James how to get rid of her. For one thing, he'd never live it down. James would return every remark Sirius had made last year with twice the viciousness. Then there was bound to be a lot of teasing about him not being able to handle a girl on his own. 

No, he decided. He'd handle it on his own. No matter what it took. He'd give in to her demands. He had to. There was no other choice. Finally, he reached the classroom they, or rather SHE, had picked for their meeting. He took a deep breath and counted to ten. In French. Then, after much mental preparation, he opened the door with a pained look on his face. SHE was sitting on one of the desks. Oh, the horror. She wasn't bad looking, she was actually pretty. Her body was okay too, and the muggle skirt and shirt she was wearing looked rather good on her. The only problem was... 

" Oh my god! Sirius, you're here! I wasn't sure you'd come, you know. I mean, you're like so cool and you must totally be busy with other stuff, you know. I was like so totally disappointed when you didn't show up at the time I told you, and I was about to like, you know, leave. But then I thought, what if he's just a little bit late. And I'd totally wait forever to see you, you know." Sirius would have come up with a sarcastic remark, had the girl not spoken faster that a herd of rampaging Hippogrifs. 

He had never particularly liked her. She was Slytherin after all. Why, though, he could not say. He had alwasy thought she was nice, though still very annoying. It wasn't until last week when she had sent him that blasted note that he realized her true nature. Oh, he had read so many times in hopes of guessing whther she was sane or not that he had memorised the note by the end of breakfast. His fist tightened over the wrinkled and abused note in his pocket. He took it out, and read it one last time 

_Dear Sirius, _

I wanted to ask, did you get my bouquet of flowers? I thought you might not have because you never talked to me about them.... Oh, and did you love the way I enchanted your quill to keep writing 'I love Sirius Black' all over your parchment? You never even looked at me, so I wasn't sure... I'm not sure if you saw, but I enchanted the enchanted ceiling the other day to spell out 'I love you, Sirius' with the stars. I thought the two weeks of detention I got would be worth it, but you didn't even say anything to me! 

I thought you might not know it was me, so I was more obvious the next time. But you never even said anything about the ants I sent scurring to your dormitory to deliver a note to you and spell 'Deanna loves you, Sirius.' It was the only reason I could think of. I've been following you around for a while now, hoping to overhear you talking to your friends about me, because now the posibility that you didn't know it was me was ruled out. I thought maybe you were a little shy. But that doesn't seem to be the case either, because you never mentioned me. Not ONCE. So now I'm making you an offer. I found a certain thing in Muggle Studies that might interest you. Something you'd never want anyone seeing, as it would ruin your reputation. So meet me in the potions classroom at five tomorrow. And bring your acting skills! 

Sincerely,   
Denise 

Yes, Sirius had noticed all of these things. And it had been hell making sure the others didn't. It had taken all the cunning he posessed to keep the others unaware of his plight. He had been fairly successful, except for the quill incident. James had noticed before he had, but he had written it off as his overly large ego, much to Sirius's relief.. At first, he had thought she was bluffing. She had to be. But there was that last line... She had to have found it. There was no other explanation. He could have sworn he had lost it in DADA, but maybe he had been mistaken. Whatever the case, she had found it. And she was blackmailing him with it. He had thought about destroying that picture, the last of its kind, but he had put it off for so long. He should have done it sooner, instead of always thinking he could not be bothered with it at the moment. 

You see, when he was 9, his mother had decided to skip the conventional punishments after a particularly loud argument with her. It had taken her days to come up with something evil enough. In the end, she would have given up... if it hadn't been for that little rat, Regulus. He had 'innocently' reminded Mrs. Black about the play that his school was putting on. And Mrs. Black found the perfect punishement. To make Sirius audition for it. Much to her delight, and his indignation, he landed the lead role. Of the princess. He had auditioned for the role of a minor character... an exceptionally happy one. He had marched right in there and said all his lines in a grumpy and sulky voice. 

They told him he wasn't right for that part. Keyword being 'that'. So they had given him the role of the princess, who acted sulky thoughout the whole story. The director had even said that his semi-long hair could be made to grow faster for a week before the prefomance if he took a potion every night. So he had attended the rehearsals at his mothers orders, and had taken the potion for a week before the play, causing him to look more like a girl everyday. He had told James he couldn't visit because he had gotten his spleen removed. James had not known or cared what that was, and had not insisted on visiting. That little brat, Regulus, had insisted on taking pictures during the whole play. He turned to the girl after she cleared her thoat.(AN: Umbridge, anyone?) He had completely forgotten about her presence. 

" So what do you want, Navarro?" he asked, stuffing the note back in his robes. She seemed dilighted that he had kept it. Maybe she'd go easier on him. She jumped off the desk and walked over to him. 

" Well, the thing is, I'm auditioning for this play during the summer, you know. And I'm not really sure I'm good enough, so I want you to rehearse with me. Since you love acting so much.... Just this one time, don't worry. I'll give it to you after we're done." she slowed down a little, so Sirius could actually understand what she was saying. Well, almost. 

" Rehearse? With you?" he was about to say, 'that's it?', but he kept quiet, afraid of giving her ideas. She nodded. 

" Just this once." he asked. She nodded again. Knowing he was sentencing himself, he nodded. She smiled. 

" Okay, we're supposed to mmet at a masked ball, you know. And since I don't, like, have a mask, I thought you could wear this." she said. Sirius once again was at a loss. He had not understood one word in that jumbled mess she called a coherent sentence. However, he was saved from asking when she took out a black thing from her pocket. Sirius took it and gave her a questioning look. She ignored it. He took it hesitantly. Deciding she was not going to be helpful, he took it, and made to put it on his foot. She giggled. Guessing that's probably not where it went, he made a second guess. 

Slowly and hesitantly, he raised his arms over his head and attempted to put it on his head. The lack of giggling told him he was putting it in the right place, but that didn't explain why he couldn't see. She gave an exasperated groan and fixed it for him. Now he could see. The next sight he caught made him wish he couldn't though. She had now donned a mask with feathers all other sorts of sparkly stuff that covered her eyes. She looked like... a peacock's head or something. He was about to say something when he heard James's voice. Sirius felt like swearing. Loudly. He turned to the door and saw... no one. 

" What was...? Oh, the mirror... What the hell does James want now?" he muttered, signaling to Deanna to be quiet. 

" Sirius, what the hell are you wearing?" James asked sharply. Remus and Peter both appeared in the mirror quite suddenly, just as Sirius realized he was still wearing the weird black thing. He quickly removed it. 

" What were you wearing that for, Sirius?" Peter asked. Sirius was now very annoyed. He was not about to be questioned by half-brain while he was negotiating. Or rather, being controlled. 

" Never you mind. I really have to get going." he answered with a frown, and before they could protest, he tapped the mirror with his wand and the image diasppeared. Sirius sighed, hoping James wouldn't call him again. He stuck the mirror in his pocket and put the mask back on, although backwards, and then turned to Deanna. 

" Come on, I don't have all day." he growled. She grinned, knowing he couldn't see her. Oh, this was going to be hell... 

~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~ 

Finally, after a painful 4 hours, she was going to let him go. They had rehearsed every scene at least twice, and she seemed rather fond of the kissing scenes because he had made him rehearse them at least 3 times each. Sirius Black was not a happy man. He had the feeling that if he just snogged her senseless the first time instead of giving her quick half second kisses on her cheek, she'd let him go, but he wasn't about to do that. He would have preferred detention with Filch to this. At least he wouldn't have to kiss Flich. She sighed and looked though her bag. 

" Okay, we're done!" she said in a very cheerful voice. Then in a strangely slow voice she spoke again. " You held up your end of the bargain. I'm holding up mine." she said, taking a folded piece of parchment out of her bag. Sirius was happy for the first time that day. And she had had the decency of keeping the picture covered! With a very relieved smile, he took the parchment. One could never trust Slytherins, so he unfolded the parchment to find something he had not expected. 

_'Why I love Acting   
By: Sirius Black' _   
was written at the top. The paper had been graded, and it had gotten a 'D' for Dreadful. Mostly because he knew very little about acting and had written the paper while the other essays were being collected. But he hadn't lost this. He had thrown it away. His first thought was 

'Ew... she was going through my trash,' but it was interrupted by a second more pressing thought. 'She never had the picture.' his eyes widened. He had done all this for nothing! He turned to stare at her. 

" THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE? THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE BLACKMAILING ME WITH?" he thundered. She didn't look intimidated. 

" I wasn't blackmailing you! I was requesting a favor from you in exchange for something. Besides, aren't you glad you got to rehearse with me?" 

" NO! I NEVER WOULD HAVE COME!" Sirius raged. He felt very pissed off and misleaded. She looked angry now. 

" You're lucky I allow you to get NEAR me, Black! I'm leaving!" 

" Good! I want you to leave!" he stormed. 

" Well, I am! And just so you know, James was a better kisser!" she shrieked, and stomped out. Seconds later, she popped her head into the room again, but now she was smiling. 

" But thanks for your help. I'm bound to get the part this year!" 

~~~~~~ 

Okay, that's it. Until next time. Though I wonder what I'll have to post next time... 


End file.
